PROTECTING MEMORY OF A VIRTUAL GUEST

• US 20130097354A1
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Finjan Blue, Inc. (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Arges, Christopher J., Fontenot, Nathan D., Grimm, Ryan P., Schopp, Joel H., Strosaker, Michael T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,782,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/14 Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1458 by checking the subject access rights
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1491 in a hierarchical protection system, e.g. privilege levels, memory rings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6281 at program execution time, where the protection is within the operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/151 Emulated environment, e.g. virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/468 Specific access rights for resources, e.g. using capability register

Abstract

The method for protecting memory of a virtual guest includes initializing a virtual guest on a host computing system. The host computing system includes a virtual machine manager that manages operation of the virtual guest. The virtual guest includes a distinct operating environment executing in a virtual operation platform provided by the virtual machine manager. The method includes receiving an allocation of run-time memory for the virtual guest, the allocation of run-time memory comprising a portion of run-time memory of the host computing system. The method includes setting, by the virtual guest, at least a portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initializing a virtual guest on a host computing system, the host computing system comprising a virtual machine manager, the virtual machine manager managing operation of the virtual guest, the virtual guest comprising a distinct operating environment executing in a virtual operation platform provided by the virtual machine manager;

receiving an allocation of run-time memory for the virtual guest, the allocation of run-time memory comprising a portion of run-time memory of the host computing system; and

setting, by the virtual guest, at least a portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a shared memory portion for access by the virtual machine manager, the shared memory portion comprising a portion of the allocation of run-time memory of the virtual guest.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein access to the allocation of run-time memory is determined by the virtual guest.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying that the virtual guest is in direct communication with a processor of the host computing system independent of the virtual machine manager.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein verifying that the virtual guest is in direct communication with the processor further comprises verifying that the virtual guest is in direct communication with the processor based on metrics from a Trusted Platform Module (“

TPM”

) in communication with the host computing system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein setting, by the virtual guest, at least the portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager further comprises communicating, by the virtual guest, directly with the processor, independent of the virtual machine manager, to set access permissions for the allocation of run-time memory of the virtual guest.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein setting, by the virtual guest, at least the portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager further comprises associating one or more virtual guest identifiers with a particular run-time memory page of the allocation of run-time memory, at least one of the virtual guest identifiers identifying the virtual guest, wherein the processor denies an access request to the particular run-time memory page from a requester in response to the requester lacking a corresponding virtual guest identifier for the particular run-time memory page.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a request, from the virtual machine manager, to the virtual guest to access at least a portion of the inaccessible run-time memory.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request, from the virtual machine manager, to access at least a portion of the inaccessible run-time memory;

determining that the request meets one or more predetermined criteria; and

granting access of the at least a portion of the inaccessible run-time memory to the virtual machine manager in response to determining that the request meets the one or more predetermined criteria.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more predetermined criteria comprises one or more of a request for memory dump data and a request for a virtual guest migration.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising encrypting particular data of the inaccessible run-time memory prior to granting access of the at least a portion of the inaccessible run-time memory to the virtual machine manager.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising calling a predetermined command to destroy the allocation of run-time memory for the virtual guest without the virtual machine manager accessing the allocation of run-time memory, the host computing system destroying the allocation of run-time memory in response to calling the predetermined command.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising detecting that the virtual guest is unresponsive, wherein calling the predetermined command further comprises calling the predetermined command in response to detecting that the virtual guest is unresponsive.

14-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code for:

initializing a virtual guest on a host computing system, the host computing system comprising a virtual machine manager, the virtual machine manager managing operation of the virtual guest, the virtual guest comprising a distinct operating environment executing in a virtual operation platform provided by the virtual machine manager;

receiving an allocation of run-time memory for the virtual guest, the allocation of run-time memory comprising a portion of run-time memory of the host computing system; and

setting, by the virtual guest, at least a portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising establishing a shared memory portion for access by the virtual machine manager, the shared memory portion comprising a portion of the allocation of run-time memory of the virtual guest.

25. A method comprising:

deploying a virtual guest security apparatus onto a host computing system, the virtual guest security apparatus capable of;

initializing a virtual guest on the host computing system, the host computing system comprising a virtual machine manager, the virtual machine manager managing operation of the virtual guest, the virtual guest comprising a distinct operating environment executing in a virtual operation platform provided by the virtual machine manager;

receiving an allocation of run-time memory for the virtual guest, the allocation of run-time memory comprising a portion of run-time memory of the host computing system; and

setting, by the virtual guest, at least a portion of the allocation of run-time memory to be inaccessible by the virtual machine manager.