ARM TrustZone: Shielding device integrity
Common issues when devices lack ARM TrustZone protection:
Kernel and OS Compromise Without TrustZone's secure world isolation, a single kernel vulnerability can compromise the entire system. Attackers who gain kernel access can modify critical system functions, install persistent rootkits, and access all device resources without any hardware-enforced boundaries.
Bootloader and Firmware Tampering Malicious actors can modify bootloaders and firmware during the boot process, installing persistent malware that survives system resets. Without secure boot verification in the secure world, devices cannot verify the integrity of their boot chain, allowing sophisticated attacks to take permanent root.
Cryptographic Key Exposure Encryption keys, certificates, and other sensitive cryptographic material stored in normal world memory are vulnerable to extraction through memory dumps, debugging interfaces, or software exploits. This exposure can compromise entire security infrastructures and encrypted communications.
Privilege Escalation Attacks Applications and processes can more easily escalate privileges to gain unauthorized system access. Without hardware-enforced separation, attackers can exploit software vulnerabilities to move from user space to kernel space and access restricted system resources.
Persistent Malware Installation Malware can establish deep system hooks and persist across reboots by modifying critical system components. Without secure world protection, there's no trusted environment to verify system integrity or detect unauthorized modifications to core system files.
Debug Interface Exploitation JTAG and other debugging interfaces remain accessible to attackers, providing direct hardware-level access to memory, registers, and system state. This allows sophisticated attackers to bypass software security measures entirely and extract sensitive information or modify system behavior.
Memory Protection Bypass Attackers can more easily bypass memory protection mechanisms like ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention). Without hardware-enforced memory isolation, buffer overflow and code injection attacks become more effective.
Secure Storage Compromise Sensitive data like biometric templates, payment credentials, and device identities cannot be properly isolated from the main operating system. This makes devices vulnerable to data theft through various attack vectors including malware, physical access, and remote exploits.
Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) Vulnerabilities In IoT devices running RTOS, the lack of TrustZone means there's no separation between critical real-time tasks and less trusted applications, allowing one compromised component to affect time-critical operations and system stability.
