Unpatchable security flaw found in popular SoC boards

guest · Aug 20, 2019

Unpatchable security flaw found in popular SoC boards
Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ SoCs are normally used in automotive, aviation, consumer electronics, industrial, and military components
August 20, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/unpatchable-security-flaw-found-in-popular-soc-boards/

Security researchers have discovered an unpatchable security flaw in a popular brand of system-on-chip (SoC) boardsmanufactured by Xilinx.
TWO BUGS FOUND, BUT ONE IS UNPATCHABLE
F-Secure said that the Encrypt Only secure boot mode of these SoCs contains two security flaws, one of which is unpatchable by a software update, and requires "a new silicon revision" from the vendor.

In a technical report published on GitHub, researchers said the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ Encrypt Only secure boot mode does not encrypt boot image metadata, which leaves this data vulnerable to malicious modifications.

"Attackers able tamper with the boot header in the early stages of the boot procedure can modify its contents to execute arbitrary code, thereby bypassing the security measures offered by the 'encrypt only' mode," said F-Secure's Adam Pilkey.
Researchers also found a second bug.
However, Xilinx did not release a software fix for this second bug, as attackers could always bypass any patch the company would have released by exploiting the first bug.
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