Weakness · High
CWE-1244: Internal Asset Exposed to Unsafe Debug Access Level or State
What it is
The product uses physical debug or test interfaces with support for multiple access levels, but it assigns the wrong debug access level to an internal asset, providing unintended access to the asset from untrusted debug agents.
- Severity (our rating)
- High
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Introduced during
- Architecture and Design, Implementation
- Exploited in the wild
- No CVE in CISA's catalog
In more detail
Debug authorization can have multiple levels of access, defined such that different system internal assets are accessible based on the current authorized debug level. Other than debugger authentication (e.g., using passwords or challenges), the authorization can also be based on the system state or boot stage. For example, full system debug access might only be allowed early in boot after a system reset to ensure that previous session data is not accessible to the authenticated debugger.
What an attacker can do
- Read Memory (Confidentiality)
- Modify Memory (Integrity)
- Gain Privileges or Assume Identity (Authorization, Access Control)
- Bypass Protection Mechanism (Authorization, Access Control)
How to prevent it
Architecture and Design
- For security-sensitive assets accessible over debug/test interfaces, only allow trusted agents.
- Apply blinding or masking techniques in strategic areas.
Implementation
- Add shielding or tamper-resistant protections to the device, which increases the difficulty and cost for accessing debug/test interfaces.
How to find it
- Manual Analysis. Check 2 devices for their passcode to authenticate access to JTAG/debugging ports. If the passcodes are missing or the same, update the design to fix and retest. Check communications over JTAG/debugging ports for encryption. If the communications are not encrypted, fix the design and retest.
H2 Security
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Start freeSource: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.