Securing operating system configuration using hardware

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a user application executing under a first operating system configuration on a computing device, a request to execute a second operating system configuration of a set of operating system configurations, wherein the second operating system configuration is:

signed by a private key of a public-private key pair, and

comprises at least an operating system kernel compiled with a set of parameters, the set of parameters associated with an access control policy of the second operating system configuration;

storing, in response to receiving the request, a public key corresponding to the private key in a nonvolatile memory of the computing device; and

executing a trusted application during a pre-boot state of the computing device to:

validate that the public key stored is one for a valid operating system configuration,

receive, from a local interface to the computing device, a signal confirming the received request, move the public key to a protected memory when the signal confirms the request, and

execute a boot loader having access to the protected memory to authenticate the second operating system using the public key stored in the protected memory, and to boot the second operating system configuration in response to the authenticating.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of parameters determines software modules loadable under the second operating system configuration.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of parameters determines enforcement of the access control policy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protected memory is only writable by a set of applications, including the trusted application, having an executable code integrity authenticated by a hardware component of the computing system.

5. A system, comprising:

a user interface terminal;

a computing system physically coupled to the user interface terminal and having a memory and a processor; and

a computer readable storage medium of the one or more computing nodes having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by the processor to cause the system to:

receive, from a user application executing under a first operating system configuration on a computing device, a request to execute a second operating system configuration of a set of operating system configurations, wherein the second operating system configuration is:

signed by a private key of a public-private key pair, and

comprises at least an operating system kernel compiled with a set of parameters, the set of parameters associated with an access control policy of the second operating system configuration;

store, in response to receiving the request, a public key corresponding to the private key in a nonvolatile memory of the computing device; and execute a trusted application during a pre-boot state of the computing device to:

validate that the public key stored is one for a valid operating system configuration,

receive, from the user interface terminal, a signal confirming the received request,

move the public key to a protected memory when the signal confirms the request, and

execute a boot loader having access to the protected memory to authenticate the second operating system using the public key stored in the protected memory, and to boot the second operating system configuration in response to the authenticating.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the set of parameters determines software modules loadable under the second operating system configuration.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the set of parameters determines enforcement of the access control policy.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the protected memory is only writable by a set of applications, including the trusted application, having an executable code integrity authenticated by a hardware component of the computing system.

9. A computer program product for securely booting a computing system, the computer program product including a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the computing system to execute a method comprising:

receiving, from a user application executing under a first operating system configuration on a computing device, a request to execute a second operating system configuration of a set of operating system configurations, wherein the second operating system configuration is:

signed by a private key of a public-private key pair, and

comprises at least an operating system kernel compiled with a set of parameters, the set of parameters associated with an access control policy of the second operating system configuration;

storing, in response to receiving the request, a public key corresponding to the private key in a nonvolatile memory of the computing device; and

executing a trusted application during a pre-boot state of the computing device to:

validate that the public key stored is one for a valid operating system configuration,

receive, from a local interface to the computing device, a signal confirming the received request, move the public key to a protected memory when the signal confirms the request, and

execute a boot loader having access to the protected memory to authenticate the second operating system using the public key stored in the protected memory, and to boot the second operating system configuration in response to the authenticating.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the set of parameters determines software modules loadable under the second operating system configuration.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the set of parameters determines enforcement of the access control policy.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the protected memory is only writable by a set of applications, including the trusted application, having an executable code integrity authenticated by a hardware component of the computing system.