CWE-1193

Base Abstraction Level
Pillar — Highest-level weakness category
Class — Abstract, language-independent
Base — Specific enough to detect
Variant — Tied to specific technology
Compound — Requires multiple weaknesses Draft MITRE CWE Status
Stable — Fully reviewed and complete
Draft — Under development, may change
Incomplete — Partially defined by MITRE
Deprecated — No longer recommended
Obsolete — Replaced by another CWE
Power-On of Untrusted Execution Core Before Enabling Fabric Access Control

Description

The product enables components that contain untrusted firmware before memory and fabric access controls have been enabled.

After initial reset, System-on-Chip (SoC) fabric access controls and other security features need to be programmed by trusted firmware as part of the boot sequence. If untrusted IPs or peripheral microcontrollers are enabled first, then the untrusted component can master transactions on the hardware bus and target memory or other assets to compromise the SoC boot firmware.

Consequences

Access Control — Bypass Protection Mechanism

An untrusted component can master transactions on the HW bus and target memory or other assets to compromise the SoC boot firmware.

Mitigations

Phase: Architecture and Design

The boot sequence should enable fabric access controls and memory protections before enabling third-party hardware IPs and peripheral microcontrollers that use untrusted firmware.