2253
Abstraction : Base
Description
A hardware device, or the firmware running on it, is missing or has incorrect protection features
to maintain goals of security primitives when the device is cooled below standard operating
temperatures.
Extended Description
The hardware designer may improperly anticipate hardware behavior when exposed to
exceptionally cold conditions. As a result they may introduce a weakness by not accounting for the
modified behavior of critical components when in extreme environments.
An example of a change in behavior is that power loss won't clear/reset any volatile state when
cooled below standard operating temperatures. This may result in a weakness when the starting
state of the volatile memory is being relied upon for a security decision. For example, a Physical
Unclonable Function (PUF) may be supplied as a security primitive to improve confidentiality,
authenticity, and integrity guarantees. However, when the PUF is paired with DRAM, SRAM, or
another temperature sensitive entropy source, the system designer may introduce weakness by
failing to account for the chosen entropy source's behavior at exceptionally low temperatures. In the
case of DRAM and SRAM, when power is cycled at low temperatures, the device will not contain
the bitwise biasing caused by inconsistencies in manufacturing and will instead contain the data
from previous boot. Should the PUF primitive be used in a cryptographic construction which does
not account for full adversary control of PUF seed data, weakness would arise.
This weakness does not cover "Cold Boot Attacks" wherein RAM or other external storage is super
cooled and read externally by an attacker.
Relationships
The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this
weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOr and give insight to
similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such
as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that may want to be explored.
Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)
Nature Type ID Name Page
ChildOf 1384 Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions 2257
Applicable Platforms
Language : Not Language-Specific (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Operating_System : Not OS-Specific (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Architecture : Embedded (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Architecture : Microcomputer (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Technology : System on Chip (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Common Consequences
Scope Impact Likelihood
Integrity
Authentication
Varies by Context
Unexpected State
Consequences of this weakness are highly contextual.
Low
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Architecture and Design
CWE Version 4.14
CWE-1357: Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component
CWE-1357: Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component