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A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control (Artifact)

Authors: Darya Melicher, Yangqingwei Shi, Alex Potanin, and Jonathan Aldrich

Published in: DARTS, Volume 3, Issue 2, Special Issue of the 31st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2017)

Abstract

This artifact is intended to demonstrate the module system of the Wyvern programming language and consists of a Linux virtual machine with a snapshot of the Wyvern programming language's codebase. The Wyvern codebase contains a test suite that corresponds to the code examples in the paper accompanying the artifact. In addition, the artifact contains a document describing how to compile and run Wyvern programs.

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Darya Melicher, Yangqingwei Shi, Alex Potanin, and Jonathan Aldrich. A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control (Artifact). In Special Issue of the 31st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2017). Dagstuhl Artifacts Series (DARTS), Volume 3, Issue 2, pp. 2:1-2:2, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@Article{melicher_et_al:DARTS.3.2.2,
  author =	{Melicher, Darya and Shi, Yangqingwei and Potanin, Alex and Aldrich, Jonathan},
  title =	{{A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control (Artifact)}},
  pages =	{2:1--2:2},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Artifacts Series},
  ISSN =	{2509-8195},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{3},
  number =	{2},
  editor =	{Melicher, Darya and Shi, Yangqingwei and Potanin, Alex and Aldrich, Jonathan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DARTS.3.2.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-72838},
  doi =		{10.4230/DARTS.3.2.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: language-based security, capabilities, authority, modules}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2017.20

A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control

Authors: Darya Melicher, Yangqingwei Shi, Alex Potanin, and Jonathan Aldrich

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 74, 31st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2017)

Abstract

The principle of least authority states that each component of the system should be given authority to access only the information and resources that it needs for its operation. This principle is fundamental to the secure design of software systems, as it helps to limit an application's attack surface and to isolate vulnerabilities and faults. Unfortunately, current programming languages do not provide adequate help in controlling the authority of application modules, an issue that is particularly acute in the case of untrusted third-party extensions. In this paper, we present a language design that facilitates controlling the authority granted to each application module. The key technical novelty of our approach is that modules are first-class, statically typed capabilities. First-class modules are essentially objects, and so we formalize our module system by translation into an object calculus and prove that the core calculus is type-safe and authority-safe. Unlike prior formalizations, our work defines authority non-transitively, allowing engineers to reason about software designs that use wrappers to provide an attenuated version of a more powerful capability. Our approach allows developers to determine a module's authority by examining the capabilities passed as module arguments when the module is created, or delegated to the module later during execution. The type system facilitates this by identifying which objects provide capabilities to sensitive resources, and by enabling security architects to examine the capabilities passed into and out of a module based only on the module's interface, without needing to examine the module's implementation code. An implementation of the module system and illustrative examples in the Wyvern programming language suggest that our approach can be a practical way to control module authority.

Cite as

Darya Melicher, Yangqingwei Shi, Alex Potanin, and Jonathan Aldrich. A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control. In 31st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 74, pp. 20:1-20:27, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{melicher_et_al:LIPIcs.ECOOP.2017.20,
  author =	{Melicher, Darya and Shi, Yangqingwei and Potanin, Alex and Aldrich, Jonathan},
  title =	{{A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control}},
  booktitle =	{31st European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2017)},
  pages =	{20:1--20:27},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-035-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{74},
  editor =	{M\"{u}ller, Peter},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2017.20},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-72709},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2017.20},
  annote =	{Keywords: Language-based security, capabilities, authority, modules}
}

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A Capability-Based Module System for Authority Control (Artifact)

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