Trusted Execution Environment Error Recovery via Remote Context Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Trusted execution environments (TEEs) are stateless by default, which prevents recovery from crashes or compromises, potentially leading to the disclosure of confidential data due to memory encryption errors or malicious attacks.
Innovation Solution
Collect and store context information securely in a remote access controller upon detecting an exception, enabling recovery and analysis to prevent data exposure, and using this data for machine learning to predict and prevent future exceptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the trusted execution environment is configured to be stateless by default, then security is enhanced and sensitive data is protected from being left behind, but recovery from crashes or compromises is prevented and may lead to disclosure of confidential data
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the trusted execution environment into multiple components: the stateless TEE core for security-critical operations, and external storage mechanisms (remote attestation service, log storage) for persistence. This segmentation allows the TEE to maintain its stateless secure design while enabling recovery capabilities through external components that store context information and logs separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components including a remote attestation service and exception handler that mediate between the stateless TEE and the external environment. These intermediaries capture context information, store it securely, and enable recovery without requiring the TEE itself to maintain state, thus preserving security while enabling repair.
2Ease of repair
If context information is stored externally to enable recovery, then recovery capability is improved, but security may be compromised if the stored data is accessed by unauthorized entities
Solution Approach 1:
The system prepares for potential security breaches by implementing prior cushioning measures: context information is stored in a controlled manner with access restrictions, and the remote attestation service verifies the integrity and authorization of any entity attempting to access or retrieve stored context data before allowing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms through remote attestation and logging systems that monitor and verify access to stored context information. The system provides feedback about the state and integrity of stored data, enabling detection of unauthorized access attempts and ensuring that only authorized recovery operations can access the stored context information.
Data Source
AI summary
Confidential workload error recovery and reporting is disclosed. When an exception or other fault or error occurs in a trusted execution environment, context data is collected and stored in a remote access controller. The context data can be analyzed to determine a cause of the exception. The trusted execution environment is recovered based on the analysis of the context information and/or content of the trusted execution environment.