Java for mobile devices: A security study

Mourad Debbabi, Mohamed Saleh, Chamseddine Talhi, Sami Zhioua

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Java 2 Micro-Edition Connected Limited Device Configuration (J2ME CLDC) is the platform of choice when it comes to running mobile applications on resource-constrained devices (cell phones, set-top boxes, etc.). The large deployment of this platform makes it a target for security attacks. The intent of this paper is twofold: First, we study the security architecture of J2ME CLDC. Second, we provide a vulnerability analysis of this Java platform. The analyzed components are: Virtual machine, CLDC API and MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) API. The analysis covers the specifications, the reference implementation (RI) as well as several other widely-deployed implementations of this platform. The aspects targeted by this security analysis encompass: Networking, record management system, virtual machine, multi-threading and digital right management. This work identifies security weaknesses in J2ME CLDC that may represent sources of security exploits. Moreover, the results reported in this paper are valuable for any attempt to test or harden the security of this platform.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 21st Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2005
Pages235-244
Number of pages10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2005
Externally publishedYes
Event21st Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2005 - Tucson, AZ, United States
Duration: 5 Dec 20059 Dec 2005

Publication series

NameProceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC
Volume2005
ISSN (Print)1063-9527

Conference

Conference21st Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2005
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityTucson, AZ
Period5/12/059/12/05

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