This SpringerBrief discusses the uber eXtensible Micro-hypervisor
Framework (uberXMHF), a novel micro-hypervisor system security
architecture and framework that can isolate security-sensitive
applications from other untrustworthy applications on commodity
platforms, enabling their safe co-existence. uberXMHF, in addition,
facilitates runtime monitoring of the untrustworthy components, which is
illustrated in this SpringerBrief. uberXMHF focuses on three goals which
are keys to achieving practical security on commodity platforms: (a)
commodity compatibility (e.g., runs unmodified Linux and Windows) and
unfettered access to platform hardware; (b) low trusted computing base
and complexity; and (c) efficient implementation.
uberXMHF strives to be a comprehensible, practical and flexible platform
for performing micro-hypervisor research and development. uberXMHF
encapsulates common hypervisor core functionality in a framework that
allows developers and users to build custom micro-hypervisor based
(security-sensitive) applications (called "uberapps"). The authors
describe several uberapps that employ uberXMHF and showcase the
framework efficacy and versatility. These uberapps span a wide spectrum
of security applications including application compartmentalization and
sandboxing, attestation, approved code execution, key management,
tracing, verifiable resource accounting, trusted-path and on-demand I/O
isolation.
The authors are encouraged by the end result - a clean, barebones, low
trusted computing base micro-hypervisor framework for commodity
platforms with desirable performance characteristics and an architecture
amenable to manual audits and/or formal reasoning. Active, open-source
development of uberXMHF continues.
The primary audience for this SpringerBrief is system (security)
researchers and developers of commodity system software. Practitioners
working in system security deployment mechanisms within industry and
defense, as well as advanced-level students studying computer science
with an interest in security will also want to read this SpringerBrief.
