Exploiting the lock: leveraging MiG-V's logic locking for secret-data extraction

Area of Science:

• Computer Engineering
• Cybersecurity
• Hardware Security

Background:

• Logic locking is a technique used to protect integrated circuit designs from intellectual property theft and malicious modifications during manufacturing.
• The MiG-V is the first commercially available logic-locked RISC-V processor, designed for high-security applications.
• While effective against design tampering, the impact of logic locking on runtime data confidentiality remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of logic locking on data confidentiality in the MiG-V RISC-V processor.
• To identify potential data leakages arising from the exploitation of logic-locking hardware during runtime.
• To assess the security implications of logic locking beyond traditional key-recovery attacks.

Main Methods:

• The study involved altering the logic locking key of the MiG-V processor.
• SSL cryptographic algorithms were executed on the processor during key alteration.
• Data leakages were analyzed by monitoring the processor's behavior and output.

Main Results:

• Changing a single bit in the logic locking key led to the complete exposure of the cryptographic encryption key.
• Exploitation of the logic-locking hardware resulted in significant data leakages during runtime.
• The findings demonstrate a critical security vulnerability inherent in the logic locking process.

Conclusions:

• Logic locking, while securing designs against manufacturing threats, introduces significant data confidentiality risks during runtime.
• Comprehensive security assessments are crucial for logic-locked hardware, extending beyond key-recovery defenses.
• This research underscores the need for novel security mechanisms to ensure data confidentiality in advanced processor architectures.