Patent · US Active

Detection of secure variable alteration in a computing device equipped with unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI)-compliant firmware

US9870474B2 · kind B2 · utility

5Cited by
2References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 4, 2014
Grant dateJan 16, 2018
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 4, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F21/572
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A firmware-based mechanism for protecting against physical attacks on ROM areas holding Authenticated Variables. A first hash of contents of at least one Authenticated Variable is created by a computing device's UEFI-compliant firmware and stored in a non-volatile storage location. Subsequently a second hash of contents of the at least one Authenticated Variable is created by the firmware and compared by the firmware to the stored hash to identify unauthorized modifications of the at least one Authenticated Variable occurring after the creation of the first hash.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.