privilegeseparated

Privilege separation is a security technique used in computing to reduce the potential damage from a software vulnerability. It involves dividing a program into two or more components, with each component running with the minimum necessary privileges. Typically, one component handles untrusted input and performs initial processing, while another component, with elevated privileges, handles sensitive operations like file access or network communication.

The core idea is that if the component handling untrusted input is compromised, the attacker gains only the limited privileges of that component, not the full privileges of the entire program. This significantly restricts the attacker's ability to cause harm. For example, a web server might use privilege separation to have one process accept incoming connections and parse HTTP requests, while a separate process with restricted permissions reads and writes files.

This approach is widely adopted in modern software, especially in operating systems and network services, to enhance security and mitigate the impact of zero-day exploits. By isolating critical functions and limiting the attack surface, privilege separation contributes to a more robust and secure computing environment.