Secure method to update software in a security module

• US 7,926,050 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2005
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nagravision SA (Kudelski SA)
• Original Assignee: Nagravision SA (Kudelski SA)
• Inventors: Osen, Karl
• Primary Examiner(s): Rutten, James D
• Application Number:
  US11/147,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20050283777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,134 Days
• Field of Search: 717/168
• US Class Current: 717/172
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4181 for conditional access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4586 Content update operation triggered locally, e.g. by comparing the version of software modules in a DVB carousel to the version stored locally deployment, distribution, installation, update of software G06F8/65; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy during software upgrading G06F11/1433; arrangements for updating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/25
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8193 dedicated tools, e.g. video decoder software or IPMP tool

Abstract

Transmission method of a message containing a program block that avoids the consequences of a possible malicious decryption of this message is proposed. This is achieved through a secure method to update software embedded in a security module, comprising formation of a first updating program block, determination of a target memory zone of said security module, determination, through said security module, of a pre-registered content in said target memory zone, formation of a second program block obtained by the mixing of all or a part of the pre-registered content with the first program block, transmission of the second program block to the security module, reception of the second block by the security module, reading of the target memory zone, obtaining and writing in the target memory zone of the first block by the inverse mixing of all or part of the second block and of the target memory zone content.

Claims

1. A secure method to update software embedded in a security module, this method comprising the following steps:

formation of a first updating program block,

determination of a target memory zone of said security module,

determination of a pre-registered content in said target memory zone of said security module,

formation of a second program block by mixing all or a part of the pre-registered content with the first updating program block,

transmission of the second program block to the security module,

reception of the second program block by the security module,

reading of the content of the target memory zone,

obtaining the first updating program block from the second program block by using the target memory zone content as a key and by inverse mixing the target memory zone content and all or part of the second program block; and

overwriting the target memory zone content with the obtained first updating program block,

wherein the pre-registered content in said target memory zone of said security module is made up of a program code executable by the security module.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inverse mixing operation is an exclusive OR function.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inverse mixing operation is an encryption function with the content of the pre-registered memory as the encryption key.