[cap-talk] Lua, Javascript, and the Object Capability Model

[Matej Kosik]

James Graves wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I had mentioned to Mark Miller that I'd been investigating Lua 
> recently.  And he asked me how it compared to Javascript.  As a reply to 
> that, and to discuss Lua and the object-capability model, I thought I'd 
> blog about it:
> 
> 
>       Lua, Javascript, and the Object Capability Model
>       <http://partiallyappliedlife.blogspot.com/2009/07/lua-and-object-capability-model.html>

Lua probably supports sandboxing. Untrusted code is started in a context
where dangerous functions are undefined.

Does it also support dynamic changes in the reference graph according to
object-capability security model? I.e. connectivity:
- by initial conditions
- parenthood
- by introduction
- by endowment
?

I guess not but because if you want to call a function in Lua, you
specify (forgeable) name. That name is looked up in appropriate
hash-table. Untrusted subsystems may have different hash-tables. I am
not sure though whether it is possible to realize "connectivity by
introduction" in this system. There are certain useful security policies
that cannot be implemented if this is not possible.
-- 
Matej