Patent ID: 9686078
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04L

Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for updating firmware of a device of a host machine independent of user interaction, comprising: sending, by a computing system, a request to validate firmware information on the host machine based at least in part on a firmware image, the host machine being hosted by a different computing system, the host machine running a guest operating system provisioned to a guest user, the host machine including at least one interface to the device for which the guest user has been granted hardware access, the request being sent to a dedicated network port of a network interface device of the host machine, the dedicated network port being inaccessible to the guest user and reserved for firmware updates; executing, by the computing system, a hashing algorithm against at least a portion of the firmware image to generate an approved set of hash values; receiving, by the computing system, a set of hash values that have been signed using public key cryptography; determining, by the computing system, that the set of hash values does not match the approved set of hash values; and in response to determining that the set of hash values does not match the approved set of hash values, performing, by the computing system, at least one remedial action with respect to the host machine.