Security vulnerabilities in event-driven systems

Abstract

The event-driven model is a model commonly used in the implementation of systems such as the Graphical User Interface (GUI). While it offers important advantages over alternative choices, it often exhibits security vulnerabilities due to its architectural characteristics in the handling of events. In this paper we examine the security vulnerabilities of event-driven systems and define the conditions that produce them. We show that a substantial number of these vulnerabilities follow the same principles with buffer overrun vulnerabilities and finally we provide countenneasures.