Firmware version corruption attack prevention

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022171851-A1
Application number	US-202017107467-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 30, 2020
Priority date	Nov 30, 2020
Publication date	Jun 2, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method includes detecting a change in control of a peripheral device from a first security domain to a second security domain of a computer system and in response to detecting the change in control of the peripheral device, reading a current firmware version of the peripheral device and determining whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system. The method further includes in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, providing control of the peripheral device to the second security domain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
detecting, by a processing device, a change in control of a peripheral device from a first security domain to a second security domain of a computer system; in response to detecting the change in control of the peripheral device:
reading, by the processing device, a current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determining, by the processing device, whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system; and
in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, providing control of the peripheral device to the second security domain.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting an initialization of the peripheral device on the computer system; and in response to detecting the initialization of the peripheral device:
reading, by the processing device, the current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determining, by the processing device, whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system comprises comparing the current firmware version to one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein comparing the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device comprises comparing a hash of the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein comparing the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device comprises comparing a signature included in the current firmware version to known signatures of one or more versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device trusted by the computer system.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, writing, by the processing device, a trusted signature to the current firmware version, wherein the trusted signature identifies the current firmware version as trusted by the computer system.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
detecting a second change in control of the peripheral device from the second security domain to a third security domain of the computer system; and determining that the current firmware version on the peripheral device includes the trusted signature; and in response to determining that the current firmware version on the peripheral device includes the trusted signature, providing control of the peripheral device to the third security domain.

8 . A system comprising:
a memory; and a processing device operatively coupled to the memory, the processing device to:
detect a change in control of a peripheral device from a first security domain to a second security domain of a computer system;
in response to detecting the change in control of the peripheral device:
read a current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determine whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system; and

in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, provide control of the peripheral device to the second security domain.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further to:
detect an initialization of the peripheral device on the computer system; and in response to detecting the initialization of the peripheral device:
read the current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determine whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein to determine whether the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system the processing device is to compare the current firmware version to one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein to compare the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device the processing device is to compare a hash of the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein to compare the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device the processing device is to compare a signature included in the current firmware version to known signatures of one or more versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device trusted by the computer system.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further to:
in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, write a trusted signature to the current firmware version, wherein the trusted signature identifies the current firmware version as trusted by the computer system.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the processing device is further to:
detect a second change in control of the peripheral device from the second security domain to a third security domain of the computer system; and determine that the current firmware version on the peripheral device includes the trusted signature; and in response to determining that the current firmware version on the peripheral device includes the trusted signature, provide control of the peripheral device to the third security domain.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:
detect, by the processing device, a change in control of a peripheral device from a first security domain to a second security domain of a computer system; in response to detecting the change in control of the peripheral device:
read, by the processing device, a current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determine, by the processing device, whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system; and
in response to determining that the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system, provide control of the peripheral device to the second security domain.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processing device is further to:
detect an initialization of the peripheral device on the computer system; and in response to detecting the initialization of the peripheral device:
read the current firmware version of the peripheral device; and
determine whether the current firmware version of the peripheral device is trusted by the computer system.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein to determine whether the current firmware version is trusted by the computer system the processing device is to compare the current firmware version to one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein to compare the current firmware version to the one or more certified versions of firmware associated with the peripheral device the processing device

Assignees

• Red Hat Inc

Inventors

• Tsirkin Michael
• Ilan Amnon

Classifications

• G06F21/554 Primary

  involving event detection and direct action · CPC title

• G06F2221/033

  Test or assess software · CPC title

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title

• G06F21/53

  by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine · CPC title

• G06F21/64

  Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures · CPC title