Weakness · Medium
CWE-1310: Missing Ability to Patch ROM Code
What it is
Missing an ability to patch ROM code may leave a System or System-on-Chip (SoC) in a vulnerable state.
- Severity (our rating)
- Medium
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Introduced during
- Architecture and Design, Implementation, Integration, Manufacturing
- Exploited in the wild
- No CVE in CISA's catalog
In more detail
A System or System-on-Chip (SoC) that implements a boot process utilizing security mechanisms such as Root-of-Trust (RoT) typically starts by executing code from a Read-only-Memory (ROM) component. The code in ROM is immutable, hence any security vulnerabilities discovered in the ROM code can never be fixed for the systems that are already in use. A common weakness is that the ROM does not have the ability to patch if security vulnerabilities are uncovered after the system gets shipped. This leaves the system in a vulnerable state where an adversary can compromise the SoC.
What an attacker can do
- Varies by Context (Other)
- Reduce Maintainability (Other)
How to prevent it
Architecture and Design
- Secure patch support to allow ROM code to be patched on the next boot.
- Support patches that can be programmed in-field or during manufacturing through hardware fuses. This feature can be used for limited patching of devices after shipping, or for the next batch of silicon devices manufactured, without changing the full device ROM.
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Start freeSource: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.