Bootstrapping Trust in a "Trusted" Virtualized Platform
Hagen Lauer, Amin Sakzad, Carsten Rudolph, Surya Nepal · 2019
The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) can be used to establish trust in the software configuration of a computer. Virtualizing the TPM is a logical next step towards building trusted cloud environments and providing a virtual TPM to a virtual machine promises a continuation of trusted computing concepts. The association between a virtual TPM and a virtual machine is a critical concern. We show that a "trusted'' virtualized platform may fall victim to a Goldeneye attack. In this work, we put forward a formal model for virtualization systems and trusted virtualized platforms. We pair this with a model for establishing trust in a virtualized platform following conventional reasoning over trusted computing systems. We show that if a Goldeneye attack is successful, it would allow a verifier to establish trust in an untrustworthy platform. We discuss attack vectors and possible solutions which would mitigate Goldeneye.