Kernel space: Virus scanning API spawns security debate
The TALPA malware scanning API was covered in LWN in December, 2007. Several months later, TALPA is back - in the form of a patch set posted by a Red Hat employee. The resulting discussion has certainly not been what the TALPA developers would have hoped for; it is, instead, a good example of how a potentially useful idea can be set back by poor execution and presentation to the kernel community.
The idea behind TALPA is simple: various companies in the virus-scanning business would like a hook into the kernel which allows them to check for malware and prevent its spread. So the patch adds a hook into the VFS code which intercepts every file open operation. A series of filters can be attached to this intercept, with the most important one being a mechanism which makes the file being opened available to a user-space process as a read-only file descriptor. That process can scan the file and tell the kernel whether the open operation should be allowed to proceed or not. In this way, the scanning process can prevent any sort of access to files which are deemed to contain bits with evil intentions.
There are a few other details, of course. A caching mechanism prevents rescanning of unchanged files, increasing performance considerably.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 1350 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
Recent comments
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago