Styra, Inc.

Vmware, Inc.

Nicira, Inc.

Apple Inc.

Timothy L Hinrichs

Teemu Koponen

Torin Sandall

Andrew Curtis

Mikol Graves

Octavian Florescu

Marco Sanvido

Bryan J Fulton

Stan Lagun

Martin Casado

Peter J Balland, Iii

Pierre-Emmanuel Ettori

Amar Padmanabhan

Igor Ganichev

Natasha Gude

Anuprem Chalvadi

Alexander Yip

Peter J Shepherd

Magnus Hei-Yu Ma

Ashutosh Narkar

Sayed Asad Ali

Some embodiments provide API (Application Programming Interface) authorization platform that allows API-authorization policy stacks to be created and enforced. Policy stacks (called 'stacks') define API-authorization policies across different sets of managed resources in a workspace. A stack in some embodiments defines a uniform set of one or more API-authorization policies for multiple different sets of resources. By instituting common policies across multiple managed resource sets (also called managed systems), stacks can be used to guarantee uniform baseline policies for the workspace. A stack is typically applied to several managed resources that share a common trait. The API-authorization platform of some embodiments allows an administrator to define the traits of the managed resources through labels that are associated with the stacks and the managed systems. This platform in some embodiments also allows a stack to specify an exception for a managed system based on one or more features of the system.

Method and apparatus for enforcing policies for authorizing APIs

Some embodiments provide a method for evaluating authorization policies that restrict access to API (Application Programming Interfaces) calls to an application executing on a host system. At the application, the method receives an API call to execute. The method directs a process virtual machine (VM) executing inside the application to make an authorization decision for the API call. The method executes the API call after receiving an authorization decision to allow the API call from the process VM executing inside the application.

Portable policy execution using embedded machines

Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for defining code-based policies. The method generates a policy-builder first view of a policy for display in a graphical user interface (GUI) by processing a syntax tree that is generated from a code second view of the policy. The method receives, through the policy-builder first view, a modification to a portion of the policy. To reflect the modification, the method updates a portion of the syntax tree that corresponds to the portion of the policy that is affected by the modification. Based on the updating of the syntax tree, the method updates the code second view by modifying a portion of the code second view that corresponds to the updated portion of the syntax tree.

Comprehension indexing feature

Some embodiments provide a local controller on a set of host computers that reduce the volume of data that is communicated between the server set and the set of host computers. The local controller executing on a particular host computer, in some embodiments, receives a portion of the namespace including only the policies (e.g., opcode) that are relevant to API-authorization processing for the applications executing on the particular host computer provided by a local agent executing on the computer to authorize the API requests based on policies and parameters. The local controller analyzes the received policies (e.g., policy opcodes) and identifies the parameters (e.g. operands), or parameter types, needed for API-authorization processing (e.g., evaluating the policy opcode upon receiving a particular API request) by the local agent. In some embodiments, the local controller performs this analysis for each updated set of policies (e.g., policy opcodes).

Local controller for local API authorization method and apparatus

Some embodiments of the invention provide a method of modifying and validating API requests received at an API server. At a mutating admission controller of the API server, the method intercepts an API request received at the API server. The method invokes a mutating webhook to query a policy agent that includes a set of policies for modifying API requests. When the policy agent determines that the API request requires modifications based on an identified policy, the method performs the modifications and forwards the modified API request for validation by the API server. After validating the API request, the method intercepts the API request at a validating admission controller and invokes a validating webhook to query the policy agent to determine whether the API request is valid. When the policy agent determines that the API request is valid, the method forwards the API request to be admitted to a database.

Method and system for modifying and validating API requests

Some embodiments of the invention provide a system for defining, distributing and enforcing policies for authorizing API (Application Programming Interface) calls to applications executing on one or more sets of associated machines (e.g., virtual machines, containers, computers, etc.) in one or more datacenters. This system has servers that act as a logically centralized resource for defining and storing policies and parameters for evaluating these policies. The servers enforce these policies and distribute the policies and parameters to policy-enforcing local agents that execute near the applications that process the API calls. From an associated application, a local agent receives API-authorization requests to determine whether API calls received by the application are authorized. In response to such a request, the local agent uses one or more parameters associated with the API call to identify a policy stored in its local policy storage to evaluate whether the API call should be authorized. To evaluate this policy, the agent also retrieves one or more parameters from the local policy storage.

System for authorizing API calls

Some embodiments provide a method for identifying runtime complexity of a policy. The method receives, through a user interface (UI), a set of code defining a particular policy. For each variable in the particular policy, the method identifies a first occurrence of the variable in the particular policy to determine a number of values assigned to the variable. Variables determined to be assigned one value are separated from variables determined to be assigned more than one value. Based on the determinations for each variable, the method calculates a set of metrics that include at least time complexity, size complexity, and count complexity for the particular policy. The method then displays, through the UI, the calculated set of metrics along with a set of one or more suggestions for optimizing the particular policy based on the calculated set of metrics.

Automated asymptotic analysis

Some embodiments provide a method for distributing a set of parameters associated with policies for authorizing Application Programming Interface (API) calls to an application. For a previously stored hierarchical first document that comprises a first set of elements in a first hierarchical structure, the method receives a hierarchical update second document that comprises a second set of elements in a second hierarchical structure corresponding to the first hierarchical structure, wherein at least a subset of elements in the first and the second documents correspond to the set of parameters for evaluating API calls. The method receives a first set of hash values for elements of the first document that are not specified in the second document, and generates a second set of hash values for a set of elements specified in the second document. The method generates an overall hash for the second document by using the received first set of hash values and the generated second set of hash values. The method uses the overall hash to validate a signature from an entity that is authorized to specify the set of parameters.

Validating policies and data in API authorization system

Some embodiments of the invention provide a system for defining, distributing and enforcing policies for authorizing API (Application Programming Interface) calls to applications executing on one or more sets of associated machines (e.g., virtual machines, containers, computers, etc.) in one or more datacenters. This system has a set of one or more servers that acts as a logically centralized resource for defining and storing policies and parameters for evaluating these policies. The server set in some embodiments also enforces these API-authorizing policies. Conjunctively, or alternatively, the server set in some embodiments distributes the defined policies and parameters to policy-enforcing local agents that execute near the applications that process the API calls. From an associated application, a local agent receives API-authorization requests to determine whether API calls received by the application are authorized. In response to such a request, the local agent uses one or more parameters associated with the API call to identify a policy stored in its local policy storage to evaluate whether the API call should be authorized. To evaluate this policy, the agent might also retrieve one or more parameters from the local policy storage.

Processing API calls by authenticating and authorizing API calls

Some embodiments provide a method for enforcing policies for authorizing API (Application Programming Interface) calls to an application operating on a host machine. The method receives a request to authenticate a client attempting to gain access to the application, and authenticates the client based on a first set of parameters associated with the request. Using a second set of parameters associated with the request, the method evaluates a set of one or more policies associated with a set of one or more API calls to the application. Based on the evaluated policies, the method defines a third set of one or more authentication field parameters that control the API calls that the client is authorized to make to the application. The method sends an authentication reply message with the defined third set of authentication field parameters in order to control the API calls that the client is authorized to make.

Leveraging standard protocols to interface unmodified applications and services

Some embodiments provide a method gaining insight into applicability of policies that authorize access to at least one service through application programming interface (API) calls by a plurality of users. The method receives an authentication policy that defines multiple users of a system providing the service, and also receives an authorization policy that defines access to the service by the users. The method generates an authorization policy for defining access to the service by authenticated users by combining the first and second policies. The method receives a query regarding access to the service from a particular set of one or more users, and uses the third policy to provide a response to the query that describes access to the service for the particular user set.

Viewing aggregate policies for authorizing an API

Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for generating custom system templates to define new system types. For a particular system type, the method defines at least a manifest file that specifies a set of properties of the particular system type. The method compresses the defined manifest file to create a custom system template package for the particular system type. The method uploads the custom system template package to an authorization service in order to instantiate a new system of the particular system type.

Using custom templates to define new system types for instantiation

Some embodiments provide a method for evaluating a policy for authorizing an API (Application Programming Interface) call to an application. Based on a first set of parameters available before receiving the API call, the method evaluates only a portion of the policy to produce a partially evaluated policy. The method stores the partially evaluated policy in a cache. The method then receives an API call to authorize, and determines whether the API call should be authorized by fully evaluating the policy, using the partially evaluated policy retrieved from the cache first storage, and a second set of parameters associated with the API call. The method responds to the API call with a policy decision based on the fully evaluated authorization policy.

Partial policy evaluation

Some embodiments provide a method for authorizing application programming interface (API) calls on a host computer in a local cluster of computers. The method is performed in some embodiments by an API-authorizing agent executing on the host computer in the local computer cluster. From a remote cluster of computers, the method receives (1) a set of API-authorizing policies to evaluate in order to determine whether API calls to an application executing on the host computer are authorized, and (2) a set of parameters needed for evaluating the policies. With the remote cluster of computers, the method registers for notifications regarding updates to the set of parameters. The method then receives notifications, from the remote cluster, regarding an update to the set of parameters, and modifies the set of parameters based on the update. In some embodiments, the notification includes the update, while in other embodiments the method directs the remote cluster to provide the update after receiving the notification regarding the update. In addition to the notifications, the method periodically polls the remote cluster to retrieve the set of parameters needed for the received set of policies, in order to supplement data received through the notifications.

Growing community of inventors

Los Altos, CA, United States of America

Timothy L Hinrichs