[E-Lang] Java 2 "Security" (was: Re: WelcomeChrisSkalkaand S cottSmith of Johns Hopkins)

[Karp, Alan]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan S. Shapiro [mailto:shap@cs.jhu.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 5:56 AM
> To: Ben Laurie
> Cc: Mark S. Miller; David Wagner; e-lang@eros-os.org
> Subject: Re: [E-Lang] Java 2 "Security" (was: Re: 
> WelcomeChrisSkalkaand
> ScottSmith of Johns Hopkins)
> 
> 
> Ben Laurie wrote:
> > 
> > "Jonathan S. Shapiro" wrote:
> > > Defense in depth also becomes appropriate for "second 
> chance" security.
> > > A major problem with capability systems is: "What do I do 
> *after* I make
> > > a mistake?" In the real world, we often know that the 
> recipient does not
> > > act immediately. It is desirable to be able to undo an erroneous
> > > transmission. This, by the way, is where ACLs come in to play.
> > 
> > Isn't this trivially solved with revocable capabilities?
> 
> No it isn't. The problem is that I have some object A. I give 
> cap(A) to
> you intentionally and correctly. I give cap(A) to Fred by 
> accident. If I
> revoke A, then the copies of cap(A) that I gave to you get lost too.
> 
> Unfortunately, the feasible recovery strategies introduce some very
> serious security issues.
> 
> There really is a valid argument for some form of ACL here.

I disagree that ACLs are needed for selective revocation.  One way is to
have a system that gives you the ability to clone a capability.  Then you
can selectively revoke a single clone and leave the others alone.  That's
what we had with e-speak Beta 2.2.  With the current release of e-speak, you
create a delegated certificate which can be revoked modulo CRL propagation.

> 
> Jonathan
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_________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Decision Technology Department
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories MS 1U-2
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