Attesting a component of a system during a boot process

• US 9,436,827 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2014
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mackintosh, David N., Perez, Jose J. P., Walker, James W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sholeman, Abu
• Assistant Examiner(s): LWIN, MAUNG T
• Application Number:
  US14/487,948
• Publication Number:
  US 20150007313A1
• Time in Patent Office: 721 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/575 Secure boot
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices

Abstract

A method for attesting a component of a system during a boot process. The method includes steps of: verifying that the system is in a trusted state; in response to verifying that the system is in a trusted state, requesting an enrollment of the system wherein the requesting step further comprises the step of: retrieving enrollment data associated with the system; retrieving current input data associated with the component of the system; comparing the current input data against the enrollment data in order to determine whether the system can retain its trusted state; wherein in response to the comparing step, if the current input data matches the enrollment data, the system retains its trusted state; and accepting the trusted state until receipt of a notification, from the system having a retained trusted state, of an update to the system.

Claims

1. A method for attesting a component of a managed system during a boot process, comprising steps of:

verifying that the managed system is in a trusted state;

in response to verifying that the managed system is in a trusted state, requesting an enrollment of the managed system, wherein the requesting step further comprises retrieving enrollment data associated with the managed system;

retrieving, by a managing system, current input data associated with the component of the managed system;

comparing, by the managing system, the current input data against the enrollment data in order to determine whether the managed system can retain a trusted state for the managed system;

if the current input data matches the enrollment data in response to the comparing step, the managed system retains the trusted state;

accepting, by the managing system, the trusted state until receipt of a notification, from the managed system having a retained trusted state, of an update to the managed system;

receiving, by the managing system, the notification from the managed system that the component of the managed system has been updated;

retrieving, by the managing system, updated current input data associated with the component in response to the notification being received;

retrieving, by the managing system, further current input data associated with the component of the managed system; and

comparing, by the managing system, the further current input data against the updated current input data in order to determine whether the managed system can retain the trusted state, wherein the enrollment data is replaced with the updated current input data if the further current input data matches the updated current input data in response to the comparing of the further current input data, wherein the enrollment data that is replaced was retrieved when requesting the enrollment of the managed system by the managing system in response to verifying that the managed system is in a trusted state, and the updated current input data that replaces the enrollment data was retrieved by the managing system in response to the notification being received by the managing system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein if the further current input data matches the updated current input data in response to the comparing the further current input data step, the managed system retains the trusted state.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting values associated with the updated current input data to null if the further current input data matches the updated current input data in response to the comparing of the further current input data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the enrollment data that was retrieved when requesting the enrollment of the managed system comprises a measurement value of the component;

an event log identifier and a public key of the managed system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieved updated current input data comprises an updated measurement value of the component;

an updated event log identifier and a public key of the managed system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying step comprises at least one of:

inspection of the managed system and asserting a trusted state assumption associated with a period between initial installation of the managed system and the current input data being generated.