Create java sandbox based on security policies - java

I need to create environment to run potentially untrusted code. Program allowed to connect to preconfigured address:port and nothing else (even read the system time). I have compiled the class whitelist. I'd searched similar questions, but found only template that based on SecurityManager which AFAIK is deprecated.
Can anybody give me a simple sample how to run code in sandbox based on security policies and AccessController?

As far as I know it's still SecurityManager that runs the security checks. But it seems to delegate to the AccessController nowadays.
First you'll need to switch on the security manager:
-Djava.security.manager
If you omit this argument there'll be no sandbox whatsoever.
Second you'll need to tell where to find the policy file:
-Djava.security.policy=
This will add your permissions to the ones already defined in your java home. The original sandbox rules in .../jre/lib/security/java.policy. However, if you want your policy to be the only one you'll need to use a double "=". This way you control completely what's allowed.
For example:
-Djava.security.policy==
I would advise you to use the "policytool" shipped with the Java. It's fairly basic but it helps you to write quickly a policy file with the correct syntax.
I hope this helps...

Related

jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms [duplicate]

I'm looking for a java argument (or perhaps some different method) to allow me to specify a file to be used by the JVM as the java.security file, rather than using the one found in the JDK (in the JRE lib).
To give you a little more context, I am working with a WebLogic server that was set up by someone else and is running two (or more) different JVMs off the same JDK. We have run into an issue now where the work I'm doing on one JVM requires a different java.security file than the one that is currently being used by the other JVM. I am hoping there will be a way for me to just point my JVM at a new java.security file without having to point it at an entirely new JDK (due to space constraints, we would like to avoid uploading a JDK specific to each JVM).
I realize that the server's set up is not ideal, but completely rearranging the existing set up is not viable and not something I am in a position to do. So, I am hoping someone might have a creative solution that would allow for multiple JVMs running off the same JDK but with different security configurations.
I have been trying to find solutions out there, but it seems my Google-Foo is not as strong as I had hoped. Here's to hoping one of you has the answer!
Many thanks.
EDIT
Sorry maybe my original post was not clear, but I am interested in specifying the java.security file, also often referred to as the Java master security properties file, not the java.policy file which is found in the same directory.
My Solution
I will post my solution here just for reference of others who might fall into a similar situation.
As I can't seem to find an argument to specify at start up, I have decided that I will have to forgo the java.security properties file. It is possible to set properties and providers (typically configured in the file) within code using the Security class (java.security.Security). So, at least in the interim, I plan to write a class that will go through setting up my JVM specific security configurations after startup (essentially overwriting the default configurations provided by the file for the other JVM). While the obvious downside of this solution is that is does not externalize security configurations of this JVM, the solution does provide me a way to set JVM specific properties and providers without affecting the configuration of other JVMs running off the same JDK.
I appreciate the time and consideration given by others. Thanks =)
Looking at the OpenJDK source, you cannot change the loading of the java.security file. However, that file has a property called security.overridePropertiesFile which, if set to true (as it is in my current, vanilla install), allows you to load an additional security properties file specified through the system property named java.security.properties. Note also, that the command line syntax follows a similar pattern to the policy file where = specifies additional configuration and == specifies a complete replacement configuration.
Maybe the accepted answer on this thread would help you out; basically it says that you need to specify your own policy file and the final invocation should look like:
java -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy=/some/path/my.policy
You can just set the system property -Djava.security.properties=***** to specify the security property you want to load, but you must set the property security.overridePropertiesFile=true prior to use this approach.

Security manager rarely used on server?

A recent question on SO lead me to an older answer about the Java Security Manager. My question about this line in that answer:
The security manager impacts performances though, and it is rarely used on the server side.
Can someone please back this up or refute? I thought there is always a security manager, a custom one or the default and that containers use it all the time.
In server-side code that you yourself write, I can't think for any need for you to use a SecurityManager, since if you are writing the code to perform some operation in your application, it's unlikely that you need to check if your code has the permissions that you have given it.
For instance, a lot of the methods in SecurityManager are related to IO operations - checkDelete(), checkRead(), checkWrite(), etc. The JDK library classes will call these methods when you try to create/write/read/delete a file, so calling them yourself would be pointless.
So it's unlikely that your server-side code would make much use of the SecurityManager. However, the code that your code runs in - if you are deployed in a servlet container for instance - might make use of these methods, because they are interested in determining if your code has some level of permission that they give it.

Can one break a secury manager with sun.misc.unsafe?

Following a conversation on another question, an interesting issue is being raised.
Classes loaded with a security manager are protected with the corresponding security. This security could disable reflection (for example).
The question is: is it possible to break a security manager with sun.misc.unsafe? If yes, how?
EDIT
Changed SecuredClassLoader to Security Manager in question.
No. The sun.misc.Unsafe class requires an access check just like any other privileged action. You can block it with a custom class loader or security manager. Here's a simple example with an empty security manager that shows it'll throw an AccessControlException:
System.setSecurityManager(new SecurityManager());
Unsafe unsafe = Unsafe.getUnsafe();
What is "secure class loader"? SecureClassLoader? It is not secure, despite its name. All it does is limits the class loading source to a specific code location.
Therefore you don't even need any unsafe operations to "break" that. Just, for instance, make sure a replacement hacked class is in the classpath before SecureClassLoader even got the control.
Someone in that thread told you already -- you cannot have a secured spot in unsecured environment. If your code is deployed to a user machine, user is God there, and no JVM security can help you simply because JVM is a tiny layer on top of much more powerful native things.

Java argument to specify Java.Security file for JVM

I'm looking for a java argument (or perhaps some different method) to allow me to specify a file to be used by the JVM as the java.security file, rather than using the one found in the JDK (in the JRE lib).
To give you a little more context, I am working with a WebLogic server that was set up by someone else and is running two (or more) different JVMs off the same JDK. We have run into an issue now where the work I'm doing on one JVM requires a different java.security file than the one that is currently being used by the other JVM. I am hoping there will be a way for me to just point my JVM at a new java.security file without having to point it at an entirely new JDK (due to space constraints, we would like to avoid uploading a JDK specific to each JVM).
I realize that the server's set up is not ideal, but completely rearranging the existing set up is not viable and not something I am in a position to do. So, I am hoping someone might have a creative solution that would allow for multiple JVMs running off the same JDK but with different security configurations.
I have been trying to find solutions out there, but it seems my Google-Foo is not as strong as I had hoped. Here's to hoping one of you has the answer!
Many thanks.
EDIT
Sorry maybe my original post was not clear, but I am interested in specifying the java.security file, also often referred to as the Java master security properties file, not the java.policy file which is found in the same directory.
My Solution
I will post my solution here just for reference of others who might fall into a similar situation.
As I can't seem to find an argument to specify at start up, I have decided that I will have to forgo the java.security properties file. It is possible to set properties and providers (typically configured in the file) within code using the Security class (java.security.Security). So, at least in the interim, I plan to write a class that will go through setting up my JVM specific security configurations after startup (essentially overwriting the default configurations provided by the file for the other JVM). While the obvious downside of this solution is that is does not externalize security configurations of this JVM, the solution does provide me a way to set JVM specific properties and providers without affecting the configuration of other JVMs running off the same JDK.
I appreciate the time and consideration given by others. Thanks =)
Looking at the OpenJDK source, you cannot change the loading of the java.security file. However, that file has a property called security.overridePropertiesFile which, if set to true (as it is in my current, vanilla install), allows you to load an additional security properties file specified through the system property named java.security.properties. Note also, that the command line syntax follows a similar pattern to the policy file where = specifies additional configuration and == specifies a complete replacement configuration.
Maybe the accepted answer on this thread would help you out; basically it says that you need to specify your own policy file and the final invocation should look like:
java -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy=/some/path/my.policy
You can just set the system property -Djava.security.properties=***** to specify the security property you want to load, but you must set the property security.overridePropertiesFile=true prior to use this approach.

Disable Java reflection for the current thread

I need to call some semi-trustworthy Java code and want to disable the ability to use reflection for the duration of that code's execution.
try{
// disable reflection somehow
someObject.method();
}
finally{
// enable reflection again
}
Can this be done with a SecurityManager, and if so, how?
Clarification/Context: This is a follow-up to another question about restricting the packages that can be called from JavaScript/Rhino. The accepted answer references a blog entry on how to do that, and it requires two steps, the first one using a Rhino API (ClassShutter), the second one turning off reflection and Class.forName(). I was thinking I can do that second step more cleanly using a SecurityManager (learning about SecurityManager, which as has been pointed out, is a complex beast, along the way).
To sum up, I want (from code, not setting file) to turn off Class.forName() and any access to the whole reflection package.
It depends on what you are trying to restrict.
In general, publicly accessible API is not restricted. However, as long as you don't grant the untrustworthy code the ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks") permission, it won't be able to get access to non-public API in another package.
If you have a list of packages to which you want to restrict all access, there are two steps. First, in the Security properties, include the restricted package in the package.access list. Then give your trusted code RuntimePermission("accessClassInPackage." + pkg).
A common way to distinguish your untrusted code is to load it from a different location, and refer to the different codebases in your policy file when granting permissions.
The Java security architecture is very powerful, but I know it is also complicated; if you would like a more concrete example, please describe exactly what calls you want to restrict and I'll try to be more explicit.
To do what you want without modifying the java.policy file and/or the java.security file would be very difficult, maybe impossible. The java.security.Policy represents the information in java.policy, but it doesn't offer write access. You could create your own Policy implementation and install it at runtime as long as any existing SecurityManager permits it.
On the other hand, you can specify a custom java.policy file as a command-line option. If you are providing a complete application with some sort of launcher, that might be easily accomplished. It also provides some transparency to your users. A sophisticated user can review the permissions you'd like to have granted to the application.
Well, you can override SecurityManager.checkMemberAccess and give a stricter definition. However, it doesn't really work like that. What happens for instance if the code defines a finaliser?
On the clarification: Other APIs use reflection and other APIs. For instance, java.beans, LiveConnect and Rhino. An adversary could from within a script, say, create a new Rhino context without the shutter and thereby bootstrap into the full JRE. With an open system, a blacklist can never be finished.
In summary: to use the Java security model you need to work with it, not against it.
I wrote a replacement of ClassShutter that allows fine grained access control, per instance, per method, per field:
http://riven8192.blogspot.com/2010/07/java-rhino-fine-grained-classshutter.html

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