Service Master and Command Router for Multi-Context Execution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Information handling systems face vulnerabilities due to complex architectures and security flaws, leading to potential malicious activities and data breaches, despite efforts to secure them through user training, patching, and firewalls, as users can inadvertently execute malicious code or be tricked into revealing access codes.
Innovation Solution
An information handling system incorporating a Service Master and a Command Router, where the Service Master hosts threads with different access levels and the Command Router routes requests based on access control tokens, ensuring that applications operate within appropriate security contexts and can revoke or reduce access if vulnerabilities are detected, thereby minimizing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If applications are granted high access levels to perform their functions, then service functionality is improved, but security vulnerability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments service execution into multiple security contexts by creating separate service threads, each operating at a specific access level. The service master process spawns multiple service threads with different security contexts, allowing the same service to operate at different access levels simultaneously. This segmentation enables the system to grant high access levels when needed while maintaining low access levels for routine operations, thereby resolving the contradiction between functionality and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts access levels by switching between different service threads based on the specific operation being performed. The command router dynamically selects which service thread to invoke based on the access control token and required access level. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to optimize security context for each operation, granting elevated access only when necessary rather than maintaining permanently high access levels.
2Reliability
If multiple service threads with different access levels are hosted, then security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The service master process serves multiple functions: it manages the creation of service threads, acts as a command router to direct requests to appropriate threads, and coordinates security context switching. By consolidating these functions in a single service master, the system avoids the complexity of multiple independent service processes while still achieving the security benefits of multiple access levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The command router acts as an intermediary between applications and service threads. It receives service requests, validates access control tokens, determines the appropriate access level, and routes requests to the correct service thread. This intermediary layer simplifies the system architecture by providing a centralized management point for security context selection, rather than requiring applications to directly manage multiple service threads.
3Measurement precision
If access control tokens are validated and requests are routed to matching service threads, then access control precision is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing service threads with defined access levels before requests arrive. The service master creates and maintains a pool of service threads ready to handle requests at different security contexts. This preliminary setup eliminates the need to create new service threads or perform complex security context switching during request processing, thereby reducing processing time while maintaining precise access control.
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system includes a service master and a command router. The service master is configured to host one or more service threads running under different access levels. The command router is configured to receive a request for a service from an application, the request including an access control token, determine the access control token matches the service and an access level corresponding to the access control token, and route the request to a service thread matching the access level of the access control token.