Microsoft has released more details about a new one program that the company is working on for the Linux kernel.
The new project is called Integrity Policy Enforcement or simply IPE from the enforcement of political integrity. The project is essentially a Linux security module (LSM from the Linux security module). LSMs are optional add-ons for the Linux kernel that allow for additional security features.
According to the documentation page published on Monday, IPE is Microsoft's attempt to resolve it problem code integrity for Linux, an operating system the company uses widely in its Azure cloud service.
On Linux systems where IPE is enabled, administrators will be able to create a list of binaries that will allow them to run and add authentication features. So the kernel will check each binary before allowing it to be executed. If the binaries have been modified by an attacker, the IPE will be able to prevent malicious code from being executed.
Microsoft states that IPE is not intended for computers used in home. IPE LSM was designed for very specific use cases where security is paramount and administrators need to have full control over what is running on their systems.
Microsoft today released the specifications for the new IPE module. IPE is currently in place in RFC mode (available for comments from request for comments), and it looks like it will be time before it is sent to add to the Linux kernel.
The Linux kernel already includes an LSM for code integrity, called the Integrity Measurement Architecture (or simply IMA). Microsoft stated that IPE differs from IMA because it “does not depend on metadata of the file system” and because IPE features “have defining properties that exist exclusively in the kernel”, meaning that IPE does not need additional code like IMA does, IMA signatures.