Vehicle Software Secret Injection via Placeholder Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems lack effective methods to securely execute software applications on vehicles, particularly in scenarios where sensitive information or critical vehicle functions are involved, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access and manipulation.
Innovation Solution
The method involves detecting a request for a software application from a vehicle computer, identifying embedded placeholders in the source code mapped to secrets stored in a vehicle's data store, replacing the placeholders with the corresponding secrets, and executing the modified source code to perform specific actions on the vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If secrets are embedded directly in source code for ease of implementation, then software application development is simplified, but security and protection against unauthorized access deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the software system into two separate components: source code containing placeholders and a separate data store containing secrets. This segmentation prevents secrets from being exposed in the source code while maintaining the ability to execute software applications securely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces placeholders as intermediary elements in the source code that map to secrets in the data store. These placeholders act as mediators that enable the source code to function without directly containing sensitive information, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of implementation and security.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If placeholders are replaced with secrets before execution, then security is improved, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the replacement of placeholders with secrets as a preliminary action during the software execution process. The system automatically retrieves secrets from the data store and replaces placeholders before the software application executes, ensuring security without requiring complex manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service by automatically managing the replacement of placeholders with secrets without requiring external intervention. The vehicle computer system autonomously handles secret retrieval and substitution, reducing operational complexity while maintaining security.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If secrets are stored in a data store separate from source code, then security and information protection are improved, but loss of time for secret retrieval and replacement operations occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs secret retrieval and placeholder replacement as a preliminary action before software execution. By completing this preparation in advance, the actual software execution can proceed without time delays, effectively minimizing the impact of secret management operations on overall system performance.
Data Source
AI summary
An example operation includes one or more of: detecting a request for a software application from a vehicle computer, wherein the software application includes source code comprising one or more embedded placeholders that are mapped to one or more secrets stored in a data store of a vehicle; identifying the one or more secrets stored in the data store that are associated with the one or more embedded placeholders; replacing the one or more embedded placeholders with the one or more secrets identified from the data store into the source code of the software application; and executing the source code of the software application to cause the vehicle to perform an action.