Incorrect Register Defaults or Module Parameters

Hardware description language code incorrectly defines register defaults or hardware IP parameters to insecure values.


Description

Integrated circuits and hardware IP software programmable controls and settings are commonly stored in register circuits. These register contents have to be initialized at hardware reset to defined default values that are hard coded in the hardware description language (HDL) code of the hardware unit. Hardware descriptive languages also support definition of parameter variables, which can be defined in code during instantiation of the hardware IP module. Such parameters are generally used to configure a specific instance of a hardware IP in the design.

The system security settings of a hardware design can be affected by incorrectly defined default values or IP parameters. The hardware IP would be in an insecure state at power reset, and this can be exposed or exploited by untrusted software running on the system. Both register defaults and parameters are hardcoded values, which cannot be changed using software or firmware patches but must be changed in hardware silicon. Thus, such security issues are considerably more difficult to address later in the lifecycle. Hardware designs can have a large number of such parameters and register defaults settings, and it is important to have design tool support to check these settings in an automated way and be able to identify which settings are security sensitive.

Demonstrations

The following examples help to illustrate the nature of this weakness and describe methods or techniques which can be used to mitigate the risk.

Note that the examples here are by no means exhaustive and any given weakness may have many subtle varieties, each of which may require different detection methods or runtime controls.

Example One

Consider example design module system verilog code shown below.register_example module is an example parameterized module that defines two parameters, REGISTER_WIDTH and REGISTER_DEFAULT. Register_example module defines a Secure_mode setting, which when set makes the register content read-only and not modifiable by software writes. register_top module instantiates two registers, Insecure_Device_ID_1 and Insecure_Device_ID_2. Generally, registers containing device identifier values are required to be read only to prevent any possibility of software modifying these values.

// Parameterized Register module example
// Secure_mode : REGISTER_DEFAULT[0] : When set to 1 register is read only and not writable//
module register_example
#(
parameter REGISTER_WIDTH = 8, // Parameter defines width of register, default 8 bits
parameter [REGISTER_WIDTH-1:0] REGISTER_DEFAULT = 2**REGISTER_WIDTH -2 // Default value of register computed from Width. Sets all bits to 1s except bit 0 (Secure _mode)
)
(
input [REGISTER_WIDTH-1:0] Data_in,
input Clk,
input resetn,
input write,
output reg [REGISTER_WIDTH-1:0] Data_out
);

reg Secure_mode;

always @(posedge Clk or negedge resetn)

  if (~resetn)
  begin

    Data_out <= REGISTER_DEFAULT; // Register content set to Default at reset
    Secure_mode <= REGISTER_DEFAULT[0]; // Register Secure_mode set at reset

  end
  else if (write & ~Secure_mode)
  begin

    Data_out <= Data_in;

  end

endmodule


module register_top
(
input Clk,
input resetn,
input write,
input [31:0] Data_in,
output reg [31:0] Secure_reg,
output reg [31:0] Insecure_reg
);

register_example #(

  .REGISTER_WIDTH (32),
  .REGISTER_DEFAULT (1224) // Incorrect Default value used bit 0 is 0.

) Insecure_Device_ID_1 (

  .Data_in (Data_in),
  .Data_out (Secure_reg),
  .Clk (Clk),
  .resetn (resetn),
  .write (write)

);

register_example #(

  .REGISTER_WIDTH (32) // Default not defined 2^32-2 value will be used as default.

) Insecure_Device_ID_2 (

  .Data_in (Data_in),
  .Data_out (Insecure_reg),
  .Clk (Clk),
  .resetn (resetn),
  .write (write)

);

endmodule

These example instantiations show how, in a hardware design, it would be possible to instantiate the register module with insecure defaults and parameters.

In the example design, both registers will be software writable since Secure_mode is defined as zero.

register_example #(

  .REGISTER_WIDTH (32),
  .REGISTER_DEFAULT (1225) // Correct default value set, to enable Secure_mode

) Secure_Device_ID_example (

  .Data_in (Data_in),
  .Data_out (Secure_reg),
  .Clk (Clk),
  .resetn (resetn),
  .write (write)

);

See Also

Comprehensive Categorization: Resource Lifecycle Management

Weaknesses in this category are related to resource lifecycle management.

General Circuit and Logic Design Concerns

Weaknesses in this category are related to hardware-circuit design and logic (e.g., CMOS transistors, finite state machines, and registers) as well as issues related t...

Comprehensive CWE Dictionary

This view (slice) covers all the elements in CWE.

Weaknesses Introduced During Implementation

This view (slice) lists weaknesses that can be introduced during implementation.

Weakness Base Elements

This view (slice) displays only weakness base elements.


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