This research focuses on hypervisor security from
holistic perspective. It centers on hypervisor
architecture – the organization of the various
subsystems which collectively compromise a
virtualization platform. It holds that the path to a
secure hypervisor begins with a big-picture focus on
architecture. Unfortunately, little research has been
conducted with this perspective. This study
investigates the impact of monolithic and microkernel
hypervisor architectures on the size and scope of the
attack surface. Six architectural features are
compared: management API, monitoring interface,
hypercalls, interrupts, networking, and I/O. These
subsystems are core hypervisor components which
could be used as attack vectors. Specific examples and
three leading hypervisor platforms are referenced
(ESXi for monolithic architecture; Xen and Hyper-V
for micro architecture). The results describe the
relative strengths and vulnerabilities of both types of
architectures. It is concluded that neither design is
more secure, since both incorporate security tradeoffs
in core processes.
This research focuses on hypervisor security fromholistic perspective. It centers on hypervisorarchitecture – the organization of the varioussubsystems which collectively compromise avirtualization platform. It holds that the path to asecure hypervisor begins with a big-picture focus onarchitecture. Unfortunately, little research has beenconducted with this perspective. This studyinvestigates the impact of monolithic and microkernelhypervisor architectures on the size and scope of theattack surface. Six architectural features arecompared: management API, monitoring interface,hypercalls, interrupts, networking, and I/O. Thesesubsystems are core hypervisor components whichcould be used as attack vectors. Specific examples andthree leading hypervisor platforms are referenced(ESXi for monolithic architecture; Xen and Hyper-Vfor micro architecture). The results describe therelative strengths and vulnerabilities of both types ofarchitectures. It is concluded that neither design ismore secure, since both incorporate security tradeoffsin core processes.
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