System and method for isolating applications from each other

• US 20030101292A1
• Filed: 04/19/2002
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Lain, Antonio, Fisher, Joseph A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,051,340 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1441 for a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3861 Recovery, e.g. branch miss-prediction, exception handling error detection or correction G06F11/00

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for isolating applications from each other. In one arrangement, the system and method pertain to intercepting application instructions, determining if an application instruction calls for an illegal action, and preventing the illegal action from occurring if the application instruction calls for the illegal action. In some arrangements, the system and method further pertain to determining if the application instruction contains an indirect memory reference and, if so, modifying the application instruction to enable the application instruction to determine itself whether an illegal operation is to be performed.

Claims

1. A method for isolating applications from each other, comprising the steps of:

intercepting application instructions;

determining if an application instruction calls for an illegal action; and

preventing the illegal action from occurring if the application instruction calls for the illegal action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining if an application instruction calls for an illegal action comprises determining if the application instruction identifies an out-of-range memory address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of preventing the illegal action comprises shutting down the application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of preventing the illegal action comprises permitting the application to continue but disallowing the illegal action.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of, if the application instruction is not determined to call for an illegal action, determining if the application instruction contains an indirect memory reference.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of, if the application instruction is determined to contain an indirect memory reference, modifying the application instruction to enable the application instruction to determine itself whether an illegal operation is to be performed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of modifying the application instruction comprises adding an additional instruction to the application instruction.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the illegal operation comprises accessing an out-of-range address.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of caching the modified application instruction.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of executing the cached modified application instruction the next time the application instruction is to be executed.

11. A system for isolating applications from each other, comprising:

means for intercepting application instructions;

means for determining if an application instruction calls for an illegal action; and

means for preventing the illegal action from occurring if the application instruction calls for the illegal action.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for determining if the application instruction contains an indirect memory reference.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising means for modifying the application instruction to enable the application instruction to determine itself whether an illegal operation is to be performed.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the means for modifying the application instruction comprise means for adding an additional instruction to the application instruction.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising means for caching the modified application instruction.

16. An application isolating program stored on a computer-readable medium, the program comprising:

logic configured to intercept application instructions;

logic configured to determine if an application instruction calls for an illegal action; and

logic configured to prevent the illegal action from occurring if the application instruction calls for the illegal action.

17. The program of claim 16, further comprising logic configured to determine if the application instruction contains an indirect memory reference.

18. The program of claim 17, further comprising logic configured to modify the application instruction to enable the application instruction to determine itself whether an illegal operation is to be performed.

19. The program of claim 18, wherein the logic configured to modify the application instruction comprise logic configured to add an additional instruction to the application instruction.

20. The program of claim 19, further comprising logic configured to cache the modified application instruction.

21. A method for isolating applications from each other, comprising the steps of:

gaining control over the execution of an application;

intercepting application instructions;

determining whether the application instructions have been cached and, if so, executing the cached instructions;

if the application instructions have not been cached, determining if the application instructions call for an illegal operation; and

if the application instructions do not call for an illegal operation, determining if the application instructions include an indirect memory reference.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of determining if the application instruction call for an illegal action comprises determining if the application instructions identify an out-of-range memory address.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of, if the application instructions are determined to contain an indirect memory reference, modifying an application instruction to enable the application instruction to determine itself whether an illegal operation is to be performed.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of modifying the application instruction comprises adding an additional instruction to the application instruction.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the illegal operation comprises accessing an out-of-range address.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of caching the modified application instruction.