Codejail: Application-transparent isolation of libraries with tight program interactions

Y Wu, S Sathyanarayan, RHC Yap, Z Liang - … Security–ESORICS 2012 …, 2012 - Springer
Y Wu, S Sathyanarayan, RHC Yap, Z Liang
Computer Security–ESORICS 2012: 17th European Symposium on Research in …, 2012Springer
Dynamically linked libraries are commonly used in software programs to facilitate code
reuse. Once a library is linked into a software program, a bug in the library can lead to
compromise of the whole program. Moreover, the library may also contain malicious code.
Existing solutions for software component isolation assume simple interactions between a
library and the main program, otherwise, they require significant modification of the main
program and the library. In this paper, we propose a novel solution, Codejail, which supports …
Abstract
Dynamically linked libraries are commonly used in software programs to facilitate code reuse. Once a library is linked into a software program, a bug in the library can lead to compromise of the whole program. Moreover, the library may also contain malicious code. Existing solutions for software component isolation assume simple interactions between a library and the main program, otherwise, they require significant modification of the main program and the library. In this paper, we propose a novel solution, Codejail, which supports a partial isolation of libraries that have tight memory interactions with the main program. Codejail requires no modification to the main program or the library. We demonstrate using a Linux prototype that Codejail can work easily with real-world programs and libraries. The performance is good for a portable implementation with costs commensurate with the degree of tight interaction.
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