We describe a new design for authorization in operating systems in which applications are first-class entities. In this design, principals reflect application identities. Access control lists are patterns that recognize principals. We present a security model that embodies this design in an experimental operating system, and we describe the implementation of our design and its performance in the context of this operating system. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.4.6 [Operating Systems]: Security and Protection – access control, authentication. General Terms Security. Keywords Access control, application identity, capabilities, channels, delegation, pattern matching, regular expressions.
Ted Wobber, Aydan R. Yumerefendi, Martín Ab