The Security Architecture of the Chromium Browser
Most current web browsers employ a monolithic architecture that combines "the user" and "the web" into a single protection domain. An attacker who exploits an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in such a browser can steal sensitive files or install malware. In this paper, we present the security architecture of Chromium, the open-source browser upon which Google Chrome is built. Chromium has two modules in separate protection domains: a browser kernel, which interacts with the operating system, and a rendering engine, which runs with restricted privileges in a sandbox. This architecture helps mitigate high-severity attacks without sacrificing compatibility with existing web sites. We define a threat model for browser exploits and evaluate how the architecture would have mitigated past vulnerabilities.
The Security Architecture of the Chromium Browser
Adam Barth, Collin Jackson, Charles Reis, and The Google Chrome Team Technical Report 2008