Live data from Hacker News

TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

mkukri.xyz

1–10 of 136 posts

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#2
> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already.

If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications.

The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-called "trusted execution environment" so there's no I2C to interpose. Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger.

[1] https://github.com/nccgroup/TPMGenie

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#3
post #2

> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already. If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications. The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-call…

Funnily enough, in TPM 2.0 there's way around MITM attacks like that - you can establish encrypted connection between TPM and CPU, which outside first-time configuration (which should happen in controlled environment anyway) should provide reasonable roadblock to successful MITM attack.

But CPU-side software needs to use it, and without default well-known keys...

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#4
post #2

> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already. If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications. The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-call…

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger.

How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#5
post #4
post #2

> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already. If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications. The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-call…

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

There might be hardware "solutions" to that problem.

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#6
post #4
post #2

> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already. If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications. The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-call…

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

Probably not the most practical attack, but it is very possible to MITM the connection between the keyboard itself and the motherboard.

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#7
post #4
post #2

> If attacker have physical access, the discrete TPM is an attack surface anyway and even a known attack already. If you're wondering what they mean by this, [1] has been around since 2018. It's not unusual for a motherboard to put the TPM on a removable module, so you don't even have to desolder the chip to MITM the communications. The most recent Intel and AMD CPUs have "firmware TPMs" that run in the CPU's so-call…

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

I doubt your physical keyboard's connection to the motherboard is encrypted (I'd guess USB, I2C or maybe even PS/2 internally). I would also not be surprised if you can get small in-line sniffers that an attacker, with physical access for half an hour, could hide in your laptop.

All bets are off if your attacker is determined and has physical access.

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#8
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

I doubt your physical keyboard's connection to the motherboard is encrypted (I'd guess USB, I2C or maybe even PS/2 internally). I would also not be surprised if you can get small in-line sniffers that an attacker, with physical access for half an hour, could hide in your laptop. All bets are off if your attacker is determined and has physical access.

I mean, I wouldn't be there to type in my password because the laptop was stolen.

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#9
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

I doubt your physical keyboard's connection to the motherboard is encrypted (I'd guess USB, I2C or maybe even PS/2 internally). I would also not be surprised if you can get small in-line sniffers that an attacker, with physical access for half an hour, could hide in your laptop. All bets are off if your attacker is determined and has physical access.

There have been papers about extracting key presses from acceleration sensors of a phone, or from the sounds of key clicking by statistical inference what feels like a decade ago. You probably don't even need to touch the laptop to do that.

Re: TPM GPIO fail: How bad OEM firmware ruins Intel TPM security

#10
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course, that doesn't mean you're protected against attackers who have physical access to the machine; they can simply install a keylogger. How would that attack work if someone stole my Ryzen powered laptop with full disk encryption, TPM2.0 and secure boot with firmware password enabled?

Probably not the most practical attack, but it is very possible to MITM the connection between the keyboard itself and the motherboard.

And then return me my laptop and steal it again?
Post reply on HN