APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING INTEGRITY CHECKS ON SOFWARE

• US 20090307770A1
• Filed: 08/17/2006
• Published: 12/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Arm Limited (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Arm Limited (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Harris, Peter William, Wilson, Peter Brian
• Application Number:
  US12/309,915
• Publication Number:
  US 20090307770A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3644 by instrumenting at runtime
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/52 during program execution, e.g. stack integrity ; Preventing unwanted data erasure; Buffer overflow

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for performing integrity checking of software code executing on a processing unit of the apparatus. The apparatus further includes debug logic used when debugging program code executed by the processing unit, and trusted logic for performing trusted integrity checking operations on less-trusted program code executed by the processing unit. The debug logic has an interface via which the trusted logic can program one or more control registers, that interface not being accessible by the less-trusted program code. The trusted logic programs the control registers so as to cause the debug logic to be re-used to detect one or more activities of the processing logic during execution of the less-trusted program code, and the trusted integrity checking operations performed by the trusted logic are influenced by the activities detected by the debug logic. Such an approach has been found to provide an efficient and secure technique for performing run-time integrity checking of program code.

Claims

1. A data processing apparatus comprising:

a processing unit operable to execute program code;

debug logic for use when debugging the program code executed by the processing unit;

trusted logic operable to perform trusted integrity checking operations on less-trusted program code executed by the processing unit;

the debug logic having an interface via which one or more control registers associated with the debug logic are programmable by the trusted logic, the interface not being accessible by the less-trusted program code;

the trusted logic being operable to program the one or more control registers to cause the debug logic to be re-used to detect one or more activities of the processing logic during execution of said less-trusted program code;

the trusted integrity checking operations performed by the trusted logic being influenced by the activities detected by the debug logic.

2. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein upon occurrence of one or more predetermined conditions the debug logic is operable to issue a signal to the trusted logic to cause one or more of said trusted integrity checking operations to be performed.

3. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of said one or more predetermined conditions is the detection of a predetermined activity of the processing logic by the debug logic.

4. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the debug logic is operable to maintain information about the activities detected and one of said one or more predetermined conditions is a volume of said maintained information reaching a threshold value.

5. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the debug logic is operable to maintain information about the activities detected, said maintained information being used by the trusted logic to determine which of said trusted integrity checking operations to perform.

6. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the debug logic is operable to maintain information about the activities detected, said trusted integrity checking operations being performed on the maintained information.

7. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said debug logic comprises trace generation logic for producing a stream of trace elements indicative of activities of the processing logic for use when debugging the program code executed by the processing logic, the trusted logic being operable to re-use the trace generation logic to maintain information about said one or more activities detected during execution of the less-trusted program code by the processing logic, said maintained information being used to influence the trusted integrity checking operations performed by the trusted logic.

8. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said debug logic further comprises a trace buffer into which said maintained information is stored.

9. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said maintained information comprises a log for each of said one or more activities detected.

10. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of said one or more activities comprises access by the processing logic to a specified memory address range programmed into the one or more control registers by the trusted logic.

11. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data processing apparatus has a plurality of domains in which devices of the data processing apparatus can execute, the processing logic being operable in a non-secure domain to execute said less-trusted program code, and the trusted logic being operable in a secure domain to perform said trusted integrity checking operations.

12. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein said processing logic is further operable in said secure domain, and said trusted logic is formed by said processing logic executing trusted integrity checking code in said secure domain.

13. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein said processing logic is operable in a plurality of modes, including at least one non-secure mode being a mode in the non-secure domain and at least one secure mode being a mode in the secure domain.

14. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein in said non-secure domain said processing logic is operable under the control of a non-secure operating system, and in said secure domain said processing logic is operable under the control of a secure operating system.

15. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing logic is operable in a plurality of modes, the processing logic being operable in at least one less-trusted mode to execute said less-trusted program code, and the trusted logic being operable in a trusted mode to execute trusted integrity checking code.

16. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said trusted mode is at least one privileged mode.

17. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the data processing apparatus has a plurality of domains in which devices of the data processing apparatus can execute, said plurality of modes comprising at least one non-secure mode being a mode in the non-secure domain and at least one secure mode being a mode in the secure domain.

18. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said trusted mode is at least one of said at least one secure modes.

19. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein said at least one less-trusted mode comprises at least one non-secure mode.

20. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said trusted logic is formed by said processing logic executing in said trusted mode.

21. A data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said trusted logic is provided by a separate processor to the processing logic.

22. A data processing apparatus comprising:

processing means for executing program code;

debug means for use when debugging the program code executed by the processing means;

trusted means for performing trusted integrity checking operations on less-trusted program code executed by the processing means;

the debug means having interface means via which one or more control register means associated with the debug means are programmable by the trusted means, the interface means not being accessible by the less-trusted program code;

the trusted means programming the one or more control register means to cause the debug means to be re-used to detect one or more activities of the processing means during execution of said less-trusted program code;

the trusted integrity checking operations performed by the trusted means being influenced by the activities detected by the debug means.

23. A method of operating a data processing apparatus to perform integrity checking operations, the data processing apparatus having a processing unit for executing program code, and debug logic for use when debugging the program code executed by the processing unit, the method comprising the steps of:

employing trusted logic to perform trusted integrity checking operations on less-trusted program code executed by the processing unit;

programming one or more control registers of the debug logic via an interface which is not accessible by the less-trusted program code, said programming causing the debug logic to be re-used to detect one or more activities of the processing logic during execution of said less-trusted program code; and

performing the trusted integrity checking operations dependent on the activities detected by the debug logic.