Triage Dump Memory Poisoning for Privacy Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing error reporting systems in computer software face challenges in collecting memory dumps to diagnose errors without compromising user privacy, as full memory dumps are excessively large and contain unnecessary personal data.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced to 'poison' memory locations containing personal data by overwriting them with specific overwrite values, allowing differentiation between original and overwritten data, and using a triage dumping engine to generate a triage dump that includes pointer data while protecting user privacy by not using null pointer values for overwriting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a full memory dump is collected for error analysis, then the completeness of error diagnosis information is improved, but the size of data to be transmitted becomes excessively large and user privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary portions of memory dump data required for error diagnosis while excluding unnecessary data. The system identifies and collects specific memory regions that are relevant to the error condition, rather than dumping the entire memory space, thereby reducing data size while maintaining diagnostic value.
Solution Approach 2:
The memory dump is segmented into different regions based on their relevance to error diagnosis. The system divides memory into relevant portions (containing error-causing data) and irrelevant portions (containing personal or unnecessary data), collecting only the relevant segments for transmission and analysis.
2Loss of information
If personal data is included in the memory dump for comprehensive error analysis, then the completeness of diagnostic information is improved, but user privacy protection is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and excludes personal data from the memory dump before transmission. The system identifies memory regions containing personal or sensitive information and deliberately excludes them from the collected dump, ensuring privacy protection while maintaining the completeness of error-diagnostic information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary filtering of personal data from the memory dump before the data is transmitted or stored. By proactively removing sensitive information in advance, the system prevents privacy exposure while ensuring that only necessary error-diagnostic data is collected and transmitted.
3Measurement precision
If more detailed memory information is collected for error analysis, then the precision of error identification is improved, but the complexity of data processing and transmission increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the specific memory information necessary for precise error identification, excluding extraneous data. By focusing on relevant memory regions and data elements directly related to the error condition, the system maintains high diagnostic precision while reducing the complexity of data processing and transmission.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for generating a triage dump of useful memory data from a computer that encounters an error while executing one or more software programs. The computer system may identify data values within the triage dump that are characteristic of personal data. To protect the privacy of the software user the personal data may be poisoned by overwriting the data values with overwrite values. The overwrite values used to poison the data values may be predetermined, based on the data values themselves, or chosen at random. The triage dump may be sent to an external server associated with the developer of the one or more software programs for analysis. When overwrite values are dynamically selected, the specific overwrite values used may be sent to the server in connection with a triage dump.