Tags: Augmenting Microkernel Messages with Lightweight Metadata
Loading...
Date
2012-06-15T20:01:03Z
Authors
Saif Ur Rehman, Ahmad
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
In this work, we propose Tags, an e cient mechanism that augments microkernel interprocess
messages with lightweight metadata to enable the development of new, systemwide
functionality without requiring the modi cation of application source code. Therefore, the
technology is well suited for systems with a large legacy code base and for third-party
applications such as phone and tablet applications.
As examples, we detailed use cases in areas consisting of mandatory security and runtime
veri cation of process interactions. In the area of mandatory security, we use tagging
to assess the feasibility of implementing a mandatory integrity propagation model in the
microkernel. The process interaction veri cation use case shows the utility of tagging to
track and verify interaction history among system components.
To demonstrate that tagging is technically feasible and practical, we implemented it
in a commercial microkernel and executed multiple sets of standard benchmarks on two
di erent computing architectures. The results clearly demonstrate that tagging has only
negligible overhead and strong potential for many applications.
Description
Keywords
Tag, Information flow, Mandatory Security, Interaction verification