Running head: SECURITY EXPLOITATIONS OF REAL TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS 1

Security Exploitations of Real Time Operating Systems in Embedded Systems

Welton N. Spratley

Southern New Hampshire University

Running head: SECURITY EXPLOITATIONS OF REAL TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS 2

Security Exploitations of Real Time Operating Systems in Embedded Systems
Abstract:
Real Time Operating Systems that are currently used in embedded systems around the global community has seen an increase in the number of devices that are being employed using this technology. With the implementation of IPv6 , the number of IP addresses that are now available in order to support this boom in the use of embedded systems have also seen an increase in the types of operating systems that helps to manage these systems. However, this has created another area where malicious attackers can exploit some of the security flaws that can be found in these embedded systems. This research paper will outline how microkernels and monolithic kernels that are found in these real time operating systems have been exploited due to careless source code programming in their stack and heap memory areas. Some of these flaws can lead to buffer overflow of memory core areas which can lead to memory being overwritten and being replaced with other I/O or buffer underflow of memory which can lead to memory leakage. Disaster happens when an operating system fails to prevent the unauthorized usage of resources in relation to embedded systems.

Keywords: RTOS security; microkernel; memory management; stack; heap; interrupts, embedded system

Running head: SECURITY EXPLOITATIONS OF REAL TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS 3
Security Exploitations of Real Time Operating Systems in Embedded Systems
Introduction:
Real Time Operating Systems or RTOS plays a central role in managing and controlling embedded systems. The primary role of an operating system is an important piece of software which helps to control the resources in their operational domain. The kernel is the main workhorse that helps to facilitate the operating system’s ability to manage the many different type of requests to use certain hardware resources such as CPU time, memory allocations, hard drive usage, etc. Although an RTOS have the same abilities as general purpose OS’s, their main constraint is with time. Time is the main variable that makes an embedded system function with efficiency since the processes and threads has to be performed in real time rather than ‘soft’ time. This can create complexities and exploits at the kernel level if a programmer isn’t careful when designing their source code to execute their programs. Security isn’t a new idea when it comes to operating systems. However, many of the embedded systems that the majority of people are trying to implement doesn’t have the same level of security certifications found in other operating systems. This has made embedded systems very attractive for hackers and other malicious attackers to exploit since an RTOS has to be very efficient when dealing with interrupts, semaphores, and signaling issues in executing their prescribed threads and processes. With the scheduling and memory-management framework, a programmer can design an application with various priority levels for threads to perform optimally in an embedded system while mitigating the vulnerabilities of flawed source codes.

Running head: SECURITY EXPLOITATIONS OF REAL TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS 4
Project Type of Paper: This paper will be an evaluation of the potential security flaws of an RTOS within an embedded system and will be organized as followed: Section 2 will provide some background and describe the inner-workings of an RTOS and its main focus on time restrictive constraints vs. time-delayed or soft constraints. Section 3 will describe and analyze how memory management works with an embedded system and the different applications used. Section 4 will investigate the security difficulties of securing RTOS vulnerabilities against attacker and hackers. Section 5 will give an impact assessment of the research paper and Section 6 will conclude the research paper by giving it a comprehensive outlook where future research in this area is headed towards.