Simulated Sandbox for Debugging Restricted Permissions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Developers face challenges in debugging software applications during the development process due to the lack of tools that simulate the restricted security permissions of a secure sandbox, making it difficult to identify and fix errors that occur when code is run under end-user permissions.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that allows developers to debug software components within a simulated secure sandbox, where the application executes under specified or zone-associated permissions, providing a debugger that indicates security exceptions and helps identify error corrections.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If code is run under restricted security permissions in a secure sandbox, then security protection is improved, but debugging difficulty increases due to lack of development tools that simulate sandbox restrictions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity protectionVSAvoiddebugging difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a simulated secure sandbox environment within the development tool that copies the key security restriction characteristics of the actual sandbox. This allows developers to reproduce security-related errors during debugging without needing to deploy to the real restricted environment, thus reducing debugging difficulty while maintaining security protection context.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The development tool acts as an intermediary between the developer and the secure sandbox. It provides a simulated environment that mediates the debugging process by allowing code execution under restricted permissions locally, eliminating the need to directly interact with the complex production sandbox infrastructure for debugging purposes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If development tools run with little or no security restrictions, then ease of operation is improved, but accuracy of security exception detection deteriorates when code runs under end-user permissions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of developmentVSAvoidsecurity exception detection accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements parameter changes by allowing the simulated sandbox to configure different permission levels (e.g., read, write, execute permissions for files, registry access, network permissions) to match the actual secure sandbox restrictions. This enables accurate detection of security exceptions while maintaining an user-friendly development interface.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS7814308B2Debugging applications under different permissions

Publication Date: 2010.10.12 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A system and method that allows developers to debug a component while it is restricted by any arbitrary set of specific permissions, or restricted by an existing permission set associated with a security “zone.” A security sandbox is mimicked within the development environment so that developers can study how applications perform inside the sandbox. Developers are able create any sandbox and debug inside it, where violating any bound of the artificial sandbox will throw a security exception and drop the user out on the exact line of code which generated the error, as well as provide helpful information about how to correct the error.