The Automotive Grade Linux platform is a Linux distribution with AGL compliant applications and services. The platform includes the following hardware:

You will find in this first part everything that concerns the hardware security. The goal is to protect system against all attacks that are trying to gain additional privileges by recovering and/or changing cryptographic keys in order to alter the integrity of the boot. We should also prevent hardware modifications in order to achieve this goal. We will expose below some examples of possible configurations.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

The following table lists the terms utilized within this part of the document.

Acronyms or Abbreviations Description
HSM Hardware Security Module
NVM Non-Volatile Memory
SHE Secure Hardware Extensions

Integrity

The board must store hardcoded cryptographic keys in order to verify among others the integrity of the bootloader. Manufacturers can use HSM and SHE to enhance the security of their board.

Domain Object Recommendations
Hardware-Integrity-1 Bootloader Must control bootloader integrity.
Hardware-Integrity-2 Board Must use a HSM.
Hardware-Integrity-3 RTC Must not be alterable.

Certificates

Domain Object Recommendations
Hardware-Certificate-1 System Shall allow storing dedicated certificates.
Hardware-Certificate-2 ECU The ECU must verify the certification authority hierarchy.
Hardware-Certificate-3 System Allow the modification of certificates only if the source can be authenticated by a certificate already stored or in the higher levels of the chain of trust.

Memory

Domain Object Recommendations
Hardware-Memory-1 ECU The ECU shall never expose the unencrypted key in RAM when using cryptographic keys.
Hardware-Memory-2 Bootloader Internal NVM only
Hardware-Module-3 - HSM must be used to secure keys.