COMMON WEAKNESS ENUMERATIONIncomplete

CWE-1270

Generation of Incorrect Security Tokens

The product implements a Security Token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. However, the Security Tokens generated in the system are incorrect.

Abstraction

Base

Structure

Simple

Likelihood of Exploit

Medium

Understand the problem

What is the problem?

The product implements a Security Token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. However, the Security Tokens generated in the system are incorrect.

Extended description

Systems-On-a-Chip (SoC) (Integrated circuits and hardware engines) implement Security Tokens to differentiate and identify actions originated from various agents. These actions could be "read", "write", "program", "reset", "fetch", "compute", etc. Security Tokens are generated and assigned to every agent on the SoC that is either capable of generating an action or receiving an action from another agent. Every agent could be assigned a unique, Security Token based on its trust level or privileges.

Root cause

How and when does the problem arise?

Lifecycle phase

Architecture and Design

Lifecycle phase

Implementation

Risk

What does successful exploitation lead to?

Modify Files or DirectoriesExecute Unauthorized Code or CommandsBypass Protection MechanismGain Privileges or Assume IdentityRead MemoryModify MemoryDoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

Affected security scopes: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control

Incorrectly generated Security Tokens could result in the same token used for multiple agents or multiple tokens being used for the same agent. This condition could result in a Denial-of-Service (DoS) or the execution of an action that in turn could result in privilege escalation or unintended access.

Defence

How is it prevented and fixed?

Architecture and Design · Implementation

Defence to apply across several lifecycle phases

Detail
- Generation of Security Tokens should be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses. - Security-Token definition and programming flow should be tested in pre-silicon and post-silicon testing.