Improper Finite State Machines (FSMs) in Hardware Logic

Opis

Faulty finite state machines (FSMs) in the hardware logic allow an attacker to put the system in an undefined state, to cause a denial of service (DoS) or gain privileges on the victim's system.

The functionality and security of the system heavily depend on the implementation of FSMs. FSMs can be used to indicate the current security state of the system. Lots of secure data operations and data transfers rely on the state reported by the FSM.

Skutki

• Availability, Access Control

  Unexpected State; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Instability; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

  Faulty FSM designs that do not account for all states, either through undefined states (left as don't cares) or through incorrect implementation, might lead an attacker to drive the system into an unstable state from which the system cannot recover without a reset, thus causing a DoS. Depending on what the FSM is used for, an attacker might also gain additional privileges to launch further attacks and compromise the security guarantees.

Zapobieganie

• Architecture and Design, Implementation

  Define all possible states and handle all unused states through default statements. Ensure that system defaults to a secure state.

  Skuteczność: High

Słabość nadrzędna

• CWE-684 Incorrect Provision of Specified Functionality

Kiedy powstaje

• Architecture and Design
• Implementation

Dotyczy

Not Language-Specific, Not OS-Specific, Not Architecture-Specific, System on Chip

Źródła

1. FSM Anomaly Detection using Formal Analysis — Farimah Farahmandi, Prabhat Mishra