logo

Improper Prevention of Lock Bit Modification

Stable Base
Structure: Simple
Description

This vulnerability occurs when hardware or firmware uses a lock bit to protect critical system registers or memory regions, but fails to properly prevent that lock bit from being changed after it has been enabled. This design flaw allows attackers to bypass hardware-enforced security restrictions.

Extended Description

In hardware design and system-on-chip (SoC) architectures, a lock bit acts as a hardware-enforced security switch. Trusted firmware like a BIOS or bootloader typically sets this bit during initialization to permanently disable writes to protected configuration registers—such as those controlling debug modes, memory protection, or secure boot settings. Once locked, these settings should become immutable to prevent runtime tampering. If the implementation contains flaws—like allowing the lock bit itself to be written, clearing it via a side channel, or failing to verify its state—attackers can reverse the lock. This effectively unlocks the protected resources, enabling unauthorized reconfiguration, privilege escalation, or extraction of sensitive data that the hardware was designed to guard.
Common Consequences 1
Scope: Access Control

Impact: Modify Memory

Registers protected by lock bit can be modified even when lock is set.
Detection Methods 1
Manual AnalysisHigh
Set the lock bit. Power cycle the device. Attempt to clear the lock bit. If the information is changed, implement a design fix. Retest. Also, attempt to indirectly clear the lock bit or bypass it.
Potential Mitigations 1
Phase: Architecture and DesignImplementationTesting
- Security lock bit protections must be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses. - Security lock programming flow and lock properties must be tested in pre-silicon and post-silicon testing.

Effectiveness: High
Demonstrative Examples 2
Consider the example design below for a digital thermal sensor that detects overheating of the silicon and triggers system shutdown. The system critical temperature limit (CRITICAL_TEMP_LIMIT) and thermal sensor calibration (TEMP_SENSOR_CALIB) data have to be programmed by firmware, and then the register needs to be locked (TEMP_SENSOR_LOCK).

Code Example:

Bad
Other
RegisterField description
CRITICAL_TEMP_LIMIT[31:8] Reserved field; Read only; Default 0 [7:0] Critical temp 0-255 Centigrade; Read-write-lock; Default 125
TEMP_SENSOR_CALIB[31:0] Thermal sensor calibration data. Slope value used to map sensor reading to degrees Centigrade.
TEMP_SENSOR_LOCK[31:1] Reserved field; Read only; Default 0 [0] Lock bit, locks CRITICAL_TEMP_LIMIT and TEMP_SENSOR_CALIB registers; Write-1-once; Default 0
TEMP_HW_SHUTDOWN[31:2] Reserved field; Read only; Default 0 [1] Enable hardware shutdown on critical temperature detection; Read-write; Default 0
CURRENT_TEMP[31:8] Reserved field; Read only; Default 0 [7:0] Current Temp 0-255 Centigrade; Read-only; Default 0
In this example, note that if the system heats to critical temperature, the response of the system is controlled by the TEMP_HW_SHUTDOWN bit [1], which is not lockable. Thus, the intended security property of the critical temperature sensor cannot be fully protected, since software can misconfigure the TEMP_HW_SHUTDOWN register even after the lock bit is set to disable the shutdown response.

Code Example:

Good
Other

To fix this weakness, one could change the TEMP_HW_SHUTDOWN field to be locked by TEMP_SENSOR_LOCK.

| | | | TEMP_HW_SHUTDOWN | [31:2] Reserved field; Read only; Default 0 [1] Enable hardware shutdown on critical temperature detection; Read-write-Lock; Default 0 [0] Locked by TEMP_SENSOR_LOCK |

The following example code is a snippet from the register locks inside the buggy OpenPiton SoC of HACK@DAC'21 [REF-1350]. Register locks help prevent SoC peripherals' registers from malicious use of resources. The registers that can potentially leak secret data are locked by register locks.
In the vulnerable code, the reglk_mem is used for locking information. If one of its bits toggle to 1, the corresponding peripheral's registers will be locked. In the context of the HACK@DAC System-on-Chip (SoC), it is pertinent to note the existence of two distinct categories of reset signals.
First, there is a global reset signal denoted as "rst_ni," which possesses the capability to simultaneously reset all peripherals to their respective initial states.
Second, we have peripheral-specific reset signals, such as "rst_9," which exclusively reset individual peripherals back to their initial states. The administration of these reset signals is the responsibility of the reset controller module.

Code Example:

Bad
Verilog
verilog

if(~(rst_ni && ~jtag_unlock && ~rst_9))**

verilog
In the buggy SoC architecture during HACK@DAC'21, a critical issue arises within the reset controller module. Specifically, the reset controller can inadvertently transmit a peripheral reset signal to the register lock within the user privilege domain.
This unintentional action can result in the reset of the register locks, potentially exposing private data from all other peripherals, rendering them accessible and readable.
To mitigate the issue, remove the extra reset signal rst_9 from the register lock if condition. [REF-1351]
Code Example:
Good
Verilog
verilog


if(~(rst_ni && ~jtag_unlock))**


verilog


  
Observed Examples 1
CVE-2017-6283chip reset clears critical read/write lock permissions for RSA function
  
References 2
reglk_wrapper.sv
2021
https://github.com/HACK-EVENT/hackatdac21/blob/b9ecdf6068445d76d6bee692d163fededf7a9d9b/piton/design/chip/tile/ariane/src/reglk/reglk_wrapper.sv#L80C1-L80C48(2023-09-18)
ID: REF-1350
fix cwe 1199 in reglk
2023
https://github.com/HACK-EVENT/hackatdac21/commit/5928add42895b57341ae8fc1f9b8351c35aed865#diff-1c2b09dd092a56e5fb2be431a3849e72ff489d2ae4f4a6bb9c0ea6b7d450135aR80(2023-09-18)
ID: REF-1351
 
  
    
 
 
Applicable Platforms 
 
 
 
 
 
Languages:
 
 
 Not Language-Specific : Undetermined 
 
 
Technologies:
 
 
 Not Technology-Specific : Undetermined 
 
 
 
  
 
 
Modes of Introduction 
 
 
 
 
 
  Architecture and Design  
 
  Implementation  
 
 
 
  
Related Attack Patterns 
        
 
 
Related Weaknesses 
 
 
 
 
  ChildOf:
 Improper Access Control (CWE-284)