Re:Firefox does not have a well-designed privsep model
by jchw on Monday June 11, 2018 @05:22PM
(#17288713)
To be more particular, though:
- W^X defends against a subset of attacks that privsep defends against.
- Privsep is a bigger architectural impact than W^X. The entire app, almost everything, is impacted by privsep. Only the JIT is impacted by W^X.
So while it is nice that Firefox has been doing W^X, it doesn't mean they're closer to huge steps like Chrome-level privsep of processes. I hope they are, though.
> In a browser, there are 2 main security components you want: The main security advantage is privsep. The other is W^X jit. Other security effects will follow from those design choices, especially if you have privsep. For instance, the chrome privsep is nicely refined and pledge enforcements could be added.
EDIT: Just to be clear I'm not arguing against DEP/W^X but simply appears he is contradicting himself.