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Weakness · High

CWE-1294: Insecure Security Identifier Mechanism

What it is

The System-on-Chip (SoC) implements a Security Identifier mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. However, the Security Identifiers are not correctly implemented.

MITRE CWE 4.19.1

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

Systems-On-Chip (Integrated circuits and hardware engines) implement Security Identifiers to differentiate/identify actions originated from various agents. These actions could be 'read', 'write', 'program', 'reset', 'fetch', 'compute', etc. Security identifiers are generated and assigned to every agent in the System (SoC) that is either capable of generating an action or receiving an action from another agent. Every agent could be assigned a unique, Security Identifier based on its trust level or privileges. A broad class of flaws can exist in the Security Identifier process, including but not limited to missing security identifiers, improper conversion of security identifiers, incorrect generation of security identifiers, etc.

What an attacker can do

  • Modify Memory (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Read Memory (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • DoS: Resource Consumption (Other) (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Gain Privileges or Assume Identity (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Quality Degradation (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design

  • Security Identifier Decoders must be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses.

Implementation

  • Access and programming flows must be tested in pre-silicon and post-silicon testing.

CWE-1294 on MITRE's CWE site

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Source: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.