Method and apparatus for preventing unwanted code execution

• US 8,959,628 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2012
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Datawing Limited (Ashworth Bros., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cliquecloud Limited
• Inventors: Coppock, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughan, Michael R
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCOY, RICHARD ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US13/487,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20130111584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 988 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1- 7, 726/21, 726/22, 726/26, 726/27, 726/30
• US Class Current: 726/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1483 service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

There is provided a method of preventing unwanted code execution in a computing environment executing a scripting language and associated environment, wherein said computing environment comprises at least one server-side resource and a client side resource, comprising determining “safe” and “at risk” or “restricted” portions of the scripting language and associated environment, determining “trusted” and “untrusted” portions of the scripting language and associated environment, determining at least one “trusted” server-side resource, receiving from the “trusted” server-side resource an initial message containing one or more high-entropy secrets, and providing an unwanted code execution protection mechanism by reconfiguring said “at risk” or “restricted” portions of the scripting language and associated environment to require presentation of the one or more high-entropy secrets in order to execute.

Claims

1. A method of preventing unwanted code execution in a client/server computing environment executing a client-side script by an internet browser, said internet browser comprising functions, objects and properties, and their instances, wherein the client/server computing environment comprises at least one server-side resource in network communications with the internet browser, wherein the internet browser receives the script from at least one script source and executes the script, wherein the at least one script source includes any one or combination of:

messages received from the at least one server-side resource in response to requests made by the internet browser;

the script entered by a user of the internet browser through a debug console;

the script entered by a user through the internet browser address bar;

the script contained in third party browser add-ons attached to the browser; and

the script retrieved from a local storage device, the method comprising;

determining safe and at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser, wherein at least one of the portions of the internet browser comprises instances of the functions, objects and properties;

determining at least one of the at least one server-side resource to be a trusted resource;

determining trusted and untrusted portions of the script wherein trusted script includes script contained in messages received from the trusted resource using the network communications, and untrusted script refers to script received from untrusted script sources;

receiving, by the internet browser, from the trusted resource at least one message using the network communications containing one or more passwords; and

in response to the receiving, preventing, by the internet browser, unwanted code execution by;

re-writing said at risk portions of the internet browser to require presentation of the one or more passwords to the internet browser in order for the internet browser or any script to execute said at risk portions, wherein re-writing is executed during runtime of the internet browser and includes altering the internet browser by a rewriter program executing in the internet browser,

wherein the trusted resource includes the one or more passwords within each messages containing trusted script sent to the internet browser using the network communications subsequent to the at least one message, in order that the trusted script contained in the each messages is permitted to execute said at risk portions of the internet browser.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of reproducing the one or more passwords across a number of client-server requests by virtue of a client-server session-identifier comprising a random and globally unique data generated by the server and sent from the server to the client which said client subsequently includes in all messages to the server to identify the messages as originating from that client or a persistent client-server connection.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of producing the one or more passwords as a secure hash of a client-server session-identifier and a session password, wherein the session password comprises random data stored by the trusted resource, wherein the session password is associated with the client-server session-identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the re-writing of the at risk portions of the internet browser includes an act of replacing at risk object constructors, functions and property accessors integral to the internet browser to require passing one or more passwords as a parameter in order for execution of the other functions, object constructors or property accessors to occur.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the re-writing of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser includes an act of renaming the at risk object constructors, functions and property accessors integral to the internet browser to provide each with a new identity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the re-writing of the at risk portions of the internet browser includes an act of identifying one or more objects integral to the internet browser as content and, marking the one or more objects within the content with one or more scope identifiers, wherein a scope identifier is globally unique data associated with the content the method further comprises at least one of a further act of receiving the one or more passwords from the trusted resource and associating the one or more passwords with the content or a further act of replacing at risk objects, functions, object constructors and property accessors integral to the internet browser to require passing the one or more passwords as a parameter in order to permit execution of the other functions, object constructors or property accessors and subsequent access by the other functions, object constructors or property accessors to the one or more objects marked with the one or more scope identifiers associated with the same content as the one or more passwords.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the re-writing of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser includes an act of replacing at risk objects, functions and properties integral to the internet browser with equivalent functionality that repeats the act of re-writing the at risk or restricted portions on newly created portions of the internet browser.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the script is of a scripting language that is self-mutable and the re-writing of said at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser environment comprises using native functionality of the internet browser scripting environment to render re-writing of the internet browser scripting language and the scripting environment immutable and the one or more passwords undiscoverable to scripts from the untrusted portion.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the scripting language is at least one of ECMAScript (JavaScript/Jscript) and VBScript;

the untrusted portion includes an HTML webpage served by a webserver in response to an HTTP or HTTPS GET or POST request;

the trusted portion includes a response to separate HTTP requests made to the trusted resource from the scripting language embedded in the said HTML webpage.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising an act of reproducing the one or more passwords across a number of client-server requests by virtue of a client-server session-identifier or a persistent client-server connection, wherein the client-server session-identifier comprises a random and globally unique data sent from the server to the client which said client subsequently includes in all HTTP requests to the server to identify the HTTP requests as originating from that client.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of testing the effectiveness of the re-written portions of the internet browser wherein the act of testing the effectiveness includes an act of attempting to access or execute the at risk portions of the internet browser or an act of reversing the re-written portions of the internet browser to their original state.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising an act of reporting activity blocked by the re-written portions of the internet browser.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein an additional page identifying parameter is submitted to the trusted resource in combination with the client-server session-identifier so that the one or more passwords are different for each HTML page load.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising an act of producing the one or more passwords by the trusted resource as a secure hash of the client-server session-identifier and a session password, wherein the session password comprises random data stored server side and associated with the client-server session-identifier.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the re-writing of said at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser further comprises:

using property descriptor functionality of the scripting language to define the re-written portions of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser irreversibly; and

neutralizing functions of the scripting language capable of interrogating source code, including toString( ) and XMLHttpRequest( ) to prevent discovery of the passwords.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the re-writing of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser comprises replacing at risk objects, functions and property accessors integral to the browser to require passing one or more passwords as a parameter in order for execution of the other functions, objects or property accessors to occur.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the re-writing of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser includes an act of renaming at risk objects, functions and properties integral to the browser to provide each with a new identity.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the re-writing of the at risk portions of the internet browser includes an act of identifying one or more objects integral to the internet browser as the content and, marking the one or more objects within the content with one or more scope identifiers, wherein a scope identifier is globally unique data associated with the content;

the method further comprises at least one of a further act of receiving one or more passwords from the trusted resource and associating the one or more passwords with the content or a further act of replacing at risk objects, functions, object constructors and property accessors integral to the internet browser to require passing the one or more passwords as a parameter in order to permit execution of the other functions, object constructors or property accessors and subsequent access by the other functions, object constructors or property accessors to the one or more objects marked with scope identifiers associated with the same content as the one or more passwords.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein the re-writing of the at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser includes an act of replacing the at risk objects, functions and properties integral to the internet browser with equivalent functionality that repeats the act of re-writing at risk or restricted portions of the internet browser on newly created portions of the internet browser.

20. The method of claim 9, further comprising an act of testing the effectiveness of the re-written portions of the internet browser, wherein the act of testing the effectiveness includes an act of attempting to access or execute the at risk portions of the internet browser or an act of reversing the re-written portions of the internet browser to their original state.