Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Researcher Reveals BIOS Firmware Implementation Flaws at Black Hat

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    July 27, 2017
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Cylance UEFI

      LAS VEGAS—Intel has done a lot of work in recent years developing technologies that improve the security of firmware that underpins modern computing systems. At the Black Hat USA security conference here, Alex Matrosov, principal research scientist at Cylance, will detail multiple issues he found in UEFI firmware protections used by major motherboard vendors, in a session titled “Betraying the BIOS: Where the Guardians of the BIOS Are Failing.”

      The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, or UEFI, is typically the lowest level of software that runs on a modern motherboard, helping to boot the system into a ready state for use. Intel has multiple technologies to help secure firmware against attacks, including Boot Guard and BIOS Guard. Boot Guard helps to protect a system against a firmware-based attack by first verifying that trusted UEFI firmware is booting on the platform. BIOS Guard provides hardware-assisted authentication and protection against BIOS recovery attacks.

      In an interview with eWEEK prior to his session, Matrosov said he found at least six vulnerabilities in how the firmware protections were implemented by motherboard vendors. The risk of the firmware vulnerabilities is that an attacker could potentially compromise a system and gain unauthorized access and control.

      Among the vulnerabilities he discovered are privilege escalation flaws on the ASUS Vivo Mini (CVE-2017-11315), Lenovo ThinkCentre systems (CVE-2017-3753) and the MSI Cubi2 (CVE-2017-11312 and CVE-2017-11316). Matrosov also discovered an Intel Boot Guard bypass on the Gigabyte BRIX platform triggered by a pair of vulnerabilities identified as CVE-2017-11313 and CVE-2017-11314. 

      The flaws are not in Intel’s firmware security technologies but rather in how vendors implemented the technology, according to a statement that Intel sent to Matrosov.

      “Intel provides a 6th and 7th generation Core Platforms Secure Configuration Specification, which covers how to securely configure the platform,” Intel stated. “Additionally, Intel makes available a utility that our ecosystem partners can use to test and identify potential configuration issues.”

      Matrosov is not a newcomer to the world of firmware security. Prior to joining Cylance in October 2016, he worked at Intel as a security technical lead for firmware. In his view, not all of the motherboard vendors care about UEFI firmware in the same way, which leads to the implementation issues. 

      Matrosov has responsibly disclosed the firmware security issues to the impacted vendors so they can resolve the issues. That said, Matrosov said he’d like to see vendors update BIOS firmware more regularly since there are a lot of different issues that are discovered over the lifetime of a given piece of hardware.

      “BIOS updates are very important,” he said. “Microsoft is now trying to figure out a way to configure unified BIOS updates for hardware, and they want to be able to let users update the BIOS as easily the operating system.”

      When an attacker can get into Simple Management Mode (SMM) on the firmware, he or she will also get access to physical memory running on a system, according to Matrosov. With that access, virtual machines can be discovered and potentially enable a bypass of virtualization security mechanisms.

      “If the firmware is not protected, it can lead to huge problems,” he said.

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×