Bridging the Architecture Divide - How Hardware Limits WebAssembly and Potential Improvements

Explore the limitations of WebAssembly's software-based isolation and potential hardware solutions in this 37-minute conference talk by Tal Garfinkel from UC San Diego. Delve into the challenges faced by Wasm, including performance overheads, scaling constraints, and vulnerability to Spectre attacks. Examine how current and emerging hardware features can be leveraged to improve Wasm's capabilities. Discover how small changes to next-generation processors could significantly enhance Wasm's security, scalability, and performance, potentially revolutionizing high-concurrency, low-latency edge computing platforms.