On Fri, 11 May 2007, Jon Callas wrote: >> What about DRM/ERM that uses TPM? With TPM the content is >> pretty much tied to a machine (barring screen captures etc) >> Will ERM/DRM be ineffective even with the use of TPM?
There are two different features of TPM: it can work as an embedded smartcard (to identify computer), and it can be used to vouch for integrity of booted software. The first feature does not add much to DRM, because the attacker has the computer. The second feature can be bypassed if OS or DRM software has exploitable bugs (or with relatively simple hardware techniques, but let someone build a bug-free DRM software first :-) ). > If someone is so impolite that they'll put the TPM chip under > a scanning electron microscope, they can probably just read > the bits off. Actually there is no need for any TPM intrusive methods to bypass the second feature mentioned above (the first one does not need to be bypassed since attacker has the computer). Let us see how TPM works: after reset, CPU sends a sequence of messages that report hashes of the booted software; TPM changes its internal registers (PCRs -- platform configuration registers) as a result; CPU sends a key to be encrypted and a description of PCR values required to decrypt it; TPM returns encrypted blob (it stores PCR requirements inside the blob). Once the blob is saved outside, it can be used to make sure that only required software can access the key: after reset CPU reports hashes of booted software and TPM changes PCRs; CPU send a blob to be decrypted; TPM decrypts it, checks PCR requirements, and return the key stored inside. The crucial assumptions here are that (1) TPM cannot be reset independently of CPU; (2) CPU's boot ROM cannot be changed (note that in many cases the ROM used for boot is actually flash); (3) the bus between CPU and TPM cannot be tampered with. Now, to decrypt any blob there is no need to have a FIB (focused ion beam) or a "scanning electron microscope," because the only thing an attacker needs is to break one of the above assumptions, for example, boot Linux, reset TPM by some hardware manipulation, write a program to send to TPM the needed set of PCR change requests, send the blob, get the decrypted key, and print it out. Note once again that TPM works exactly as expected, the only problem is that the assumptions do not hold. -- Regards, ASK --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
