Encoding labels in values to capture information flows

A method of encoding security labels in a dynamic language value, comprising:

• allocating a number of bits in the dynamic language value to store encoded labels;
• reserving one bit in the allocated bits to signify whether security labels are encoded in a first mode or a second mode;
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain, the security labels being encoded in either the first mode or the second mode;
• determining whether the reserved bit indicates that the first mode or the second mode is selected;
• identifying a security label as being encoded as one-hot-bit and performing a bitwise OR operation if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the first mode is selected;
• and
• identifying the security label as being a reference into a label manager data-structure that stores actual label information and performing memory read operations if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the second mode is selected.

A computing device, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations for encoding security labels in a dynamic language value, the operations comprising:
• allocating a number of bits in the dynamic language value to store encoded labels;
• reserving one bit in the allocated bits to signify whether the security labels are encoded in a first mode or a second mode;
• and
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain, the security labels being encoded in either the first mode or the second mode, wherein tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain comprises encoding dynamic language labels in the first mode if the number of scripts accessing information from scripts originating from other domains is less than the number of allocated bits.

A computing device, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations for encoding security labels in a dynamic language value, the operations comprising:
• allocating a number of bits in the dynamic language value to store encoded labels;
• reserving one bit in the allocated bits to signify whether the security labels are encoded in a first mode or a second mode;
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain, the security labels being encoded in either the first mode or the second mode;
• determining whether the reserved bit indicates that the first mode or the second mode is selected;
• identifying a security label as being encoded as one-hot-bit and performing a bitwise OR operation if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the first mode is selected;
• and
• identifying the security label as being a reference into a label manager data-structure that stores actual label information and performing memory read operations if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the second mode is selected.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations for encoding security labels in a dynamic language value, the operations comprising:

• allocating a number of bits in the dynamic language value to store encoded labels;
• reserving one bit in the allocated bits to signify whether the security labels are encoded in a first mode or a second mode;
• and
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain, the security labels being encoded in either the first mode or the second mode, wherein
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain comprises encoding dynamic language labels in the first mode if the number of scripts accessing information from scripts originating from other domains is less than the number of allocated bits.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations for encoding security labels in a dynamic language value, the operations comprising:

• allocating a number of bits in the dynamic language value to store encoded labels;
• reserving one bit in the allocated bits to signify whether the security labels are encoded in a first mode or a second mode;
• and
• tagging the dynamic language value with security labels that identify an originating domain, the security labels being encoded in either the first mode or the second mode;
• determining whether the reserved bit indicates that the first mode or the second mode is selected;
• identifying a security label as being encoded as one-hot-bit and performing a bitwise OR operation if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the first mode is selected;
• and
• identifying the security label as being a reference into a label manager data-structure that stores actual label information and performing memory read operations if it is determined that the reserved bit indicates that the second mode is selected.