Vehicle Control Security Key Provisioning via HSM Obfuscation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems face security vulnerabilities due to pre-injection of unencrypted security keys during development, leading to increased complexity and cost in manufacturing processes, and potential security key hacking during development and mass production.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle control apparatus and method that includes a processor to de-obfuscate and temporarily store security keys in volatile memory, and delete them upon power-off, using obfuscation keys generated by an HSM build server to secure the provisioning process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If pre-injection of unencrypted security keys is performed during development, then manufacturing complexity and costs increase, but security vulnerability arises allowing key extraction through reverse analysis
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-injecting encrypted security keys into the HSM firmware binary during the firmware build process before deployment to vehicles. This allows the security keys to be provisioned in advance in a secure encrypted state, eliminating the need for complex post-deployment key injection processes while maintaining security through encryption until the keys are needed for operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the state parameter of the security keys from unencrypted to encrypted form during the firmware build process. By encrypting the security keys before injection into the HSM firmware, the system transforms the keys into a secure state that prevents extraction through reverse analysis, while still allowing them to be functional when properly decrypted during operation.
2Loss of time
If security keys are embedded in HSM firmware binary, then provisioning time and cost are reduced, but security vulnerability increases allowing developer extraction through reverse analysis
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the encryption state parameter of security keys from plaintext to encrypted form in the HSM firmware binary. This allows the keys to be embedded directly in the firmware without additional provisioning time, while the encrypted state prevents harmful extraction attempts by developers or attackers who would otherwise be able to read unencrypted keys through reverse analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces encryption as an intermediary layer between the security keys and the HSM firmware binary. Instead of embedding raw unencrypted keys, the system uses encrypted keys as an intermediate form that can be safely stored in the firmware while preventing direct access to the actual key material, thus blocking the attack path while maintaining the convenience of embedded provisioning.
3Ease of manufacture
If HSM provider distributes HSM firmware with pre-injected security keys, then provisioning cost and time are saved, but manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the security key injection into HSM firmware during the firmware build process at the HSM provider's facility, before the firmware is distributed to vehicle manufacturers. This preliminary provisioning eliminates the need for complex key injection infrastructure and processes at vehicle manufacturing sites, simplifying the overall manufacturing process while maintaining cost and time efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for provisioning a security key for vehicle control are provided. The apparatus may include at least one processor, and a hardware security module (HSM) including at least one first memory storing at least one program executable by the at least one processor. The at least one processor may de-obfuscate an obfuscated security key set included in an HSM operating firmware when powered on and may store the de-obfuscated security key set in a second memory.