Secure Configuration Register Access via Atomic Security Bit Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for securing configuration registers in computer systems are inadequate, as they either require inefficient repeated unlock and lock operations or fail to protect against unauthorized read accesses, making them vulnerable to hacking and data breaches.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a secure access mechanism where each configuration register has unique security bits that must be correctly identified and used for both read and write operations, with a comparator circuit ensuring only authorized data is written and encrypted data is read, eliminating the need for additional locking operations and providing in-band secure access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional unlock/lock operations are used to secure configuration registers, then security protection is provided, but the access process becomes complex and requires multiple operations that increase the window of vulnerability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the security verification and data access operations into a single atomic instruction. The secure configuration access instruction simultaneously performs security bit verification, comparator checking, and register access in one unified operation, eliminating the need for separate unlock and lock phases that characterized traditional approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the configuration space into multiple independently secured regions, each with its own unique security bits and comparator values. This allows different security policies to be applied to different configuration registers, enabling fine-grained security control without affecting the entire configuration space.
2Reliability
If traditional unlock/lock operations are used to secure configuration registers, then security protection is provided, but the access time increases due to repeated unlock and lock operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the configuration space into multiple independently secured regions, each with its own unique security bits and comparator values. This allows different security policies to be applied to different configuration registers, enabling fine-grained security control without affecting the entire configuration space.
Solution Approach 2:
The security verification is performed preliminarily within the atomic instruction execution pipeline, before the actual configuration register access occurs. The comparator checks security bits and validates the access request as part of the instruction decoding and execution setup, so that by the time the register access occurs, security has already been verified.
3Ease of operation
If configuration registers are left unlocked for access, then ease of operation is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to accidental or malicious overwrite attempts
Solution Approach 1:
The configuration registers are protected by self-verifying security bits that are automatically checked by the comparator circuit during each access attempt. The security mechanism serves itself by continuously validating access requests without requiring external locking control, making the protection transparent to legitimate users while blocking unauthorized access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by pre-configuring security bits and comparator values that automatically prevent unauthorized writes before they can occur. The comparator is set up in advance to reject any write operation that does not match the expected security pattern, proactively blocking malicious or accidental overwrite attempts.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed embodiments relate to a secure configuration space for a computing device. Each of the configuration resisters in a configuration space are divided into security bits and configuration data bits. The security bits are assigned a predetermined value. When reading from or writing to a given configuration register, the data in the bit positions corresponding to security bits must match the predetermined values or read/write access is denied.