Secure Content Playback Pipeline for DRM Decryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital content is vulnerable to attacks during the decryption process in existing digital media systems, as the decrypted content is exposed and not always processed in a secure environment.
Innovation Solution
A method is implemented where a digital rights management (DRM) license is received from a DRM server, transmitted to a secure content playback pipeline for storage, and used to decrypt encrypted data within a trusted execution environment, ensuring the decrypted data is stored in a secure memory space, thereby protecting it from malicious third-party applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If content is decrypted in a conventional playback environment, then the content can be processed and played back, but the decrypted content becomes vulnerable to attacks from third-party applications
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the playback architecture into two distinct environments: a conventional untrusted environment for application execution and a secure trusted environment (TEE) for decryption operations. This segmentation isolates the vulnerable decryption process from malicious third-party applications, allowing content to be decrypted safely within the TEE while applications remain in the untrusted environment. The decrypted content is then transferred to a secure memory space that applications can access only through controlled interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a secure content playback pipeline as an intermediary component between the untrusted application environment and the trusted decryption environment. This pipeline includes a secure API that mediates all interactions, allowing applications to request decryption services without direct access to the TEE's internal state. The intermediary manages the transfer of encrypted content into the TEE, coordinates the decryption process, and controls the export of decrypted content to secure memory spaces, thereby protecting the decryption process from direct application interference.
2Ease of operation
If decrypted content is made accessible to applications for processing, then the applications can manipulate and use the content, but the content becomes exposed to malicious attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by creating a secure memory space with specialized security properties distinct from conventional memory. This secure memory space is configured to be accessible only through the secure playback pipeline's controlled interfaces, not through standard memory access mechanisms. Applications can request access to decrypted content through the secure API, which enforces access controls and validates requests before allowing data transfer. This localized security zone maintains content protection while enabling controlled application interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an inert secure environment within the TEE where decrypted content resides in a protected state. The secure memory space functions as an inert atmosphere that isolates content from malicious influences in the untrusted application environment. Applications interact with this inert environment only through the controlled secure API, which acts as a barrier preventing direct access. The inert environment maintains content security while still allowing structured interaction through well-defined interfaces.
Data Source
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AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for decrypting digital content in a secure environment. The technique includes the steps of receiving a digital rights management (DRM) license associated with a first frame of encrypted data from a DRM server, where the DRM license includes a decryption key for decrypting the first frame of encrypted data, transmitting the DRM license to a secure content playback pipeline for storage, and transmitting the first frame of encrypted data to the secure content playback pipeline for decryption, where, in response to receiving the first frame of encrypted data, a trusted processing entity within the secure content playback pipeline decrypts the first frame of encrypted data based on the decryption key included in the DRM license to generate a first set of decrypted data and store the first set of decrypted data in a secure memory space.