Trusted Updates via Certificate Validation Across Reboots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing system management agents in enterprise computing environments face challenges in maintaining the chain of trust across reboots, leading to potential unauthorized modifications of files, which can result in security breaches and require manual intervention from administrators.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a validation object, such as a public key infrastructure (PKI) certificate, to verify the heritage and integrity of updater processes, and using a trust grid to cross-reference trusted updaters against allow-listed files and valid certificates, ensuring that only authorized processes can modify files within their trusted file set.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If system management agents are used to manage file permissions, then file modification control is improved, but the chain of trust cannot be maintained across reboots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating and storing cryptographic certificates for child processes before system reboot. These certificates serve as pre-established proof of heritage that can be validated after reboot without requiring administrative intervention, thus maintaining the chain of trust across system restarts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces cryptographic certificates as an intermediary mechanism between parent and child processes. These certificates act as mediators that carry trust information across the reboot boundary, allowing the system to verify process heritage without direct administrative involvement after system restart.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If allow lists are used to control executable permissions, then security is improved, but legitimate child processes are blocked after reboot
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the permission system into two distinct components: allow lists for controlling which files can be modified, and cryptographic certificates for verifying process heritage. This segmentation allows child processes to inherit permissions through certificate validation while maintaining the security boundaries established by allow lists, preventing unauthorized modifications while enabling legitimate operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter used for permission verification from simple process lineage tracking to cryptographic certificate validation. This parameter change enables the system to distinguish between legitimate child processes (which have valid certificates) and unauthorized processes (which lack valid certificates), thus adapting the permission system to work correctly after reboot.
3Reliability
If manual intervention is required to re-establish chain of trust after reboot, then security control is improved, but system productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling child processes to automatically re-establish their chain of trust after reboot through cryptographic certificate validation. The system autonomously verifies process heritage using the stored certificates without requiring administrative intervention, thus maintaining security control while eliminating the productivity loss associated with manual re-establishment of trust relationships.
Data Source
AI summary
There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; and instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: provide a permission list; allocate an executable, the executable to have permissions according to the permission list; designate a child object of the executable; allocate a certificate for the child object; and after a system reboot, grant the child object permissions of the executable after validating the certificate.