Method and system for providing secure access to computer resources

Abstract

A method and system for allowing processes to access resources. A kernel of an operating system maintains a system-wide resource table. This resource table contains resource entries. When a resource is allocated, the kernel generates a key for the resource. The key is a very large number so as to prevent a malicious process from gaining unauthorized access to the resource. The kernel also hashes the key to generate an index into the resource table that is used as a handle. The kernel stores the key in a resource entry that is indexed by the handle. The handle.backslash.key pair is sent to a process. The process accesses the resources by passing handle.backslash.key pairs to the kernel. The kernel compares the passed key with a key that is stored in the resource entry referenced by the passed handle. When the stored key and the passed key match, the process is allowed to access the resource. When the stored key and the passed key do not match, the kernel rehashes the passed key to generate a new handle. The kernel then searches starting at the index of the new handle for a resource entry with a key that matches the passed key. When a key matches the passed key, the process is allowed to access the resource, and the index for the resource entry is returned to the process so that the process can use the index as a handle to access the resource on subsequent resource access requests. When the passed key does not match a key, the process is denied access to the resource.