Covert Channels through Random Number Generator: Mechanisms, Capacity Estimation and Mitigations
Covert Channels through Random Number Generator: Mechanisms, Capacity Estimation and Mitigations
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通过随机数生成器的隐蔽通道：机制、容量估计和缓解措施
DOI：
10.1145/2976749.2978374
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
D. Ponomarev
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dmitry Evtyushkin;D. Ponomarev
秘密渠道呈现严重的安全威胁，因为它们允许在两个恶意过程之间进行秘密沟通，即使该系统抑制了直接沟通。我们通过现代处理器上可用的共享硬件随机数（RNG）模块来描述，实现和量化新的秘密通道。我们证明，可以通过跨CPU内核和虚拟机的RNG模块创建一个可靠的，高容量和低误差秘密通道。我们在不同的设置下量化了RNG通道的容量，并表明可以根据用于传输，假设和负载水平的特定系统实现7-200 kbit/s的传输速率。最后，我们描述了缓解RNG渠道的挑战，并提出了软件和硬件中的几种缓解方法。
Covert channels present serious security threat because they allow secret communication between two malicious processes even if the system inhibits direct communication. We describe, implement and quantify a new covert channel through shared hardware random number generation (RNG) module that is available on modern processors. We demonstrate that a reliable, high-capacity and low-error covert channel can be created through the RNG module that works across CPU cores and across virtual machines. We quantify the capacity of the RNG channel under different settings and show that transmission rates in the range of 7-200 kbit/s can be achieved depending on a particular system used for transmission, assumptions, and the load level. Finally, we describe challenges in mitigating the RNG channel, and propose several mitigation approaches both in software and hardware.