arm-trusted-firmware/make_helpers
Sandrine Bailleux 85bebe18da refactor(console): disable getc() by default
The ability to read a character from the console constitutes an attack
vector into TF-A, as it gives attackers a means to inject arbitrary
data into TF-A. It is dangerous to keep that feature enabled if not
strictly necessary, especially in production firmware builds.

Thus, we need a way to disable this feature. Moreover, when it is
disabled, all related code should be eliminated from the firmware
binaries, such that no remnant/dead getc() code remains in memory,
which could otherwise be used as a gadget as part of a bigger security
attack.

This patch disables getc() feature by default. For legitimate getc()
use cases [1], it can be explicitly enabled by building TF-A with
ENABLE_CONSOLE_GETC=1.

The following changes are introduced when getc() is disabled:

- The multi-console framework no longer provides the console_getc()
  function.

- If the console driver selected by the platform attempts to register
  a getc() callback into the multi-console framework then TF-A will
  now fail to build.

  If registered through the assembly function finish_console_register():
  - On AArch64, you'll get:
      Error: undefined symbol CONSOLE_T_GETC used as an immediate value.
  - On AArch32, you'll get:
      Error: internal_relocation (type: OFFSET_IMM) not fixed up

  If registered through the C function console_register(), this requires
  populating a struct console with a getc field, which will trigger:
    error: 'console_t' {aka 'struct console'} has no member named 'getc'

- All console drivers which previously registered a getc() callback
  have been modified to do so only when ENABLE_CONSOLE_GETC=1.

[1] Example of such use cases would be:
    - Firmware recovery: retrieving a golden BL2 image over the console in
      order to repair a broken firmware on a bricked board.
    - Factory CLI tool: Drive some soak tests through the console.

Discussed on TF-A mailing list here:
https://lists.trustedfirmware.org/archives/list/tf-a@lists.trustedfirmware.org/thread/YS7F6RCNTWBTEOBLAXIRTXWIOYINVRW7/

Change-Id: Icb412304cd23dbdd7662df7cf8992267b7975cc5
Signed-off-by: Sandrine Bailleux <sandrine.bailleux@arm.com>
Acked-by: Baruch Siach <baruch@tkos.co.il>
2023-10-11 08:40:14 +02:00
..
tbbr fix(tbbr): unrecognised 'tos-fw-key-cert' option 2023-09-07 11:14:52 +01:00
arch_features.mk fix(cpufeat): move nested virtualization support to optionals 2023-09-19 08:46:09 -05:00
armv7-a-cpus.mk refactor(build): merge march32/64 directives 2023-06-22 16:37:03 -05:00
build_env.mk Use SPDX license identifiers 2017-05-03 09:39:28 +01:00
build_macros.mk build: sort bootloader image sources 2023-08-29 15:03:21 +02:00
cygwin.mk Use SPDX license identifiers 2017-05-03 09:39:28 +01:00
defaults.mk refactor(console): disable getc() by default 2023-10-11 08:40:14 +02:00
march.mk feat(build): march option selection 2023-07-03 14:24:40 -05:00
msys.mk Use SPDX license identifiers 2017-05-03 09:39:28 +01:00
plat_helpers.mk Change PLATFORM_ROOT to TF_PLATFORM_ROOT 2018-03-05 14:18:04 +08:00
unix.mk Makefile: Fix verbose builds on Windows 2018-10-19 15:54:27 +01:00
windows.mk build: fix syntax error in semantic ver generation 2022-08-23 16:51:13 +01:00