PATENT ABSTRACT
A system comprising control logic adapted to activate multiple security levels for the system. The system further comprises a storage coupled to the control logic and comprising a stack, the stack associated with one, but not all, of the multiple security levels. The system also comprises security logic coupled to the control logic and adapted to restrict usage of the system if the control logic attempts to fetch an instruction op-code from the stack.

PATENT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Mobile electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital cellular telephones are increasingly used for electronic commerce (e-commerce) and mobile commerce (m-commerce). Programs that execute on the mobile devices to implement e-commerce and/or m-commerce functionality may need to operate in a secure mode to reduce the likelihood of attacks by malicious programs (e.g., virus programs) and to protect sensitive data. 
         [0002]    For security reasons, at least some processors provide two levels of operating privilege: a first level of privilege for user programs; and a higher level of privilege for use by the operating system. The higher level of privilege may or may not provide adequate security, however, for m-commerce and e-commerce, given that this higher level relies on proper operation of operating systems with highly publicized vulnerabilities. In order to address security concerns, some mobile equipment manufacturers implement yet another third level of privilege, or secure mode, that places less reliance on corruptible operating system programs, and more reliance on hardware-based monitoring and control of the secure mode. An example of one such system may be found in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0140245, entitled “Secure Mode for Processors Supporting MMU and Interrupts.” 
         [0003]    In addition to this secure mode, various hardware-implemented security firewalls and other security monitoring components have been added to the processing systems used in mobile electronic devices to further reduce the vulnerability to attacks. Despite this addition of security protection in the processing hardware, mobile electronic devices remain vulnerable to a common software security attack known generically as “stack buffer overflow.” In a stack buffer overflow attack, executable code is written on an execution stack and the return address of a currently executing function is modified so that it will point to the beginning of this new code. When the function call returns, the attacker&#39;s code is executed. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Accordingly, there are disclosed herein techniques by which a system is protected from malicious attacks such as those described above (e.g., buffer overflow attacks). An illustrative embodiments includes a system comprising control logic adapted to activate multiple security levels for the system. The system further comprises a storage coupled to the control logic and comprising a stack, the stack associated with one, but not all, of the multiple security levels. The system also comprises security logic coupled to the control logic and adapted to restrict usage of the system if the control logic attempts to fetch an instruction op-code from the stack. 
         [0005]    Another illustrative embodiment includes a system comprising a storage having a range of memory addresses associated with a security mode of the system. The system also comprises firewall logic coupled to the storage and adapted to restrict usage of the system if a signal attempting to access an instruction op-code from memory associated with the range of addresses is detected. 
         [0006]    Yet another illustrative embodiment includes a method of protecting a system comprising monitoring memory access signals, at least a portion of the memory associated with one, but not all, of a plurality of security modes. The method also comprises restricting usage of the system if one of the memory access signals attempts to access an instruction op-code from the portion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    For a detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a system in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a block diagram describing a security infrastructure in accordance with embodiments of the invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a detailed version of the security infrastructure of  FIG. 2 , in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a detailed version of the system of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a flow diagram of a method in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE 
       [0013]    Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . . ” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention. Although one or more of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope of the disclosure, including the claims. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application, and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment. 
         [0015]    Inasmuch as the systems and methods described herein were developed in the context of a mobile computing system, the description herein is based on a mobile computing environment. However, the discussion of the various systems and methods in relation to a mobile computing environment should not be construed as a limitation as to the applicability of the systems and methods described herein to only mobile computing environments. The teachings herein can be applied to any type of system (e.g., desktop computers). 
         [0016]    The system disclosed herein comprises a hardware-based firewall subsystem which protects the system from malicious attacks, such as buffer overflow attacks.  FIG. 1  shows the system  100  in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The system  100  preferably comprises an ARM® TrustZone® architecture, but the scope of this disclosure is not limited as such. In accordance with at least some embodiments, the system  100  may be, or may be contained within, a mobile device such as a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), text messaging system, and/or a device that combines the functionality of a messaging system, PDA and a cellular telephone. The system  100  includes a multiprocessor unit (MPU)  102  and a secure state machine (SSM)  104  comprising the firewall subsystem (shown in  FIG. 4 ). The MPU  102  couples to a storage  106  via an interface  110 , a write bus  112  and a read bus  114 . The write bus  112  and read bus  114  also couple to the SSM  104  via buses  118  and  116 , respectively. The SSM  104  monitors activity (e.g., data transactions, instruction op-code fetches) on the read and write buses to detect specific activities which indicate the possibility that a malicious attack is being carried out on the system  100 . If such malicious activity is detected, the SSM  104  sends security violation signals to one or more of the MPU  102 , the interface  110 , and/or the security enforcement module  108 , depending on the specific violation that has occurred. Upon receiving a security violation signal, each of the MPU  102 , the interface  110 , and the security enforcement module  108  takes a different action to prevent or at least mitigate damage to the system  100 . 
         [0017]    The system  100  is capable of operating within a variety of different security modes. The security modes of the system  100  are established to protect memory in the storage  106  from attack. Specifically, the storage  106 , which may comprise random access memory (RAM), NOR and NAND flash memory, synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc., is partitioned into public and secure domains. The public domain is accessible in a non-secure mode and the secure domain is accessible only in a secure mode. In at least some embodiments, the public and secure domain partitions are virtual (i.e., non-physical) partitions generated and enforced by a memory management unit (MMU) in the MPU  102  (shown in  FIG. 4 ). 
         [0018]    Each of the secure and non-secure modes may be partitioned into “user” and “privileged” modes. Programs that interact directly with an end-user, such as a web browser, are executed in the user mode. Programs that do not directly interact with an end-user, such as the operating system (OS), are executed in the privileged mode. By partitioning the secure and non-secure modes in this fashion, a total of four security modes are available. As shown in  FIG. 2 , in order of ascending security level, these four modes include the non-secure user mode  200 , the non-secure privileged mode  202 , the secure user mode  204 , and the secure privileged mode  206 . There is an additional security mode, called the monitor mode  208 , between the modes  202  and  204 . The computer system  100  may operate in any one of these five modes at a time. 
         [0019]    The computer system  100  may switch from one mode to another.  FIG. 2  illustrates a preferred mode-switching sequence  210 . The sequence  210  is preferred because it is more secure than other possible switching sequences. For example, to switch from the non-secure user mode  200  to the secure privileged mode  204 , the system  100  should first pass through non-secure privileged mode  202  and the monitor mode  208 . Likewise, to pass from the secure user mode  206  to the non-secure user mode  200 , the system  100  should switch from the secure user mode  206  to the secure privileged mode  204 , from the secure privileged mode  204  to the monitor mode  208 , from the monitor mode  208  to the non-secure privileged mode  202 , and from the non-secure privileged mode  202  to the non-secure user mode  200 . 
         [0020]    Some of the five security modes shown in  FIG. 2  comprise additional sub-modes, as shown in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  shows the non-secure privileged mode  202  comprising six sub-modes  300 - 310 . Specifically, the non-secure privileged mode  202  comprises a non-secure supervisor mode  300 , a non-secure system mode  302 , a non-secure FIQ mode  304 , a non-secure IRQ mode  306 , a non-secure abort mode  308 , and a non-secure UNDEF mode  310 . Similarly, the secure privileged mode  204  comprises six sub-modes  312 - 322 . In particular, the secure privileged mode  204  comprises a secure supervisor mode  312 , a secure system mode  314 , a secure FIQ mode  316 , a secure IRQ mode  318 , a secure abort mode  320 , and a secure UNDEF mode  322 . Each of these modes, except for the supervisor and system modes, is dedicated to one or more software actions and is triggered by an exception vector. By contrast, the supervisor and system modes are execution modes. 
         [0021]    Briefly referring to  FIG. 1 , the security mode of the system  100  is determined using security bits stored in the MPU  102 . Adjusting the security bits adjusts the security mode of the system  100 . Bus  128 , which couples the MPU  102  and the SSM  104 , provides a copy of the security bits to the SSM  104  so that the SSM  104  may determine the current security mode of the system  100 . Informing the SSM  104  of the current security mode of the system  100  enables the SSM  104  to protect the system  100  appropriately. 
         [0022]    Each of the security modes shown in  FIG. 3  preferably is allocated a portion of the memory in storages  106 . At least some of the memory allocated to the security modes is in the form of “stacks,” which are data structures capable of storing data in a last-in, first-out (LIFO) format. Each security mode is assigned a different stack so that, for example, the stack of a secure mode is not corrupted by data associated with a non-secure mode. When the system  100  is operating in a particular security mode, the stack associated with that mode is used and stacks associated with other modes are not used. 
         [0023]    In some cases, the system  100  may engage in multi-thread processing. Accordingly, some of the security modes shown in  FIG. 3  are assigned multiple stacks, each stack associated with a different thread (or “context”). For example, while in secure supervisor mode  312 , the MPU  102  may use a stack associated with the secure supervisor mode  312  to temporarily store data while executing in a first thread. If the MPU  102  needs to switch to a second thread while operating in the same secure supervisor mode  312 , a second stack associated with the secure supervisor mode  312  is used in the second thread. If the MPU  102  needs to resume operating in the first thread, the original stack is used in lieu of the second stack. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , when switching from a first thread to a second thread (and thus from a first stack to a second stack), the MPU  102  stores context information associated with the first stack in the SSM  104 . Context information may include the range of addresses associated with the first stack, a pointer indicating a current position in the first stack, and one or more bits indicating the type of security mode associated with the first stack. When the MPU  102  needs to resume using the first stack, the context information is retrieved from the SSM  104  and is used to find the first stack and to find the current position in the first stack. 
         [0025]    The storage of context information in the SSM  104  is advantageous because the SSM  104  may use the context information to monitor the write and read buses  112  and  114  for malicious activity. The SSM  104  may conceivably use the context information to enforce security in myriad ways, and all such permutations are encompassed within the scope of this disclosure. In one possible security technique, the SSM  104  restricts access to the various memory stacks in the storage  106  to data accesses only. If the SSM  104  detects an attempt by the MPU  102  to fetch an instruction op-code from a stack, the SSM  104  generates one or more alert signals, which are serviced as described further below. In this way, the SSM  104  is able to thwart various types of attacks, such as buffer overflow attacks, which intend to hijack execution flow and which can involve the fetching of instruction op-codes off of dedicated security mode stacks in the storage  106 . 
         [0026]    In another possible security technique, the SSM  104  ensures that each dedicated security mode stack in the storage  106  is protected from being accessed in unauthorized security modes. For example, if the SSM  104  determines (i.e., using the SECMON bus  128 ) that the system  100  is in a non-secure user mode  200  and that the MPU  102  is attempting to access a stack that is associated with the monitor mode  208 , the SSM  104  generates one or more alert signals. 
         [0027]    In still another possible security technique, the SSM  104  may be pre-programmed to monitor the write and read buses  112  and  114  for specific activities which, if detected, cause the SSM  104  to generate security violation signals. For example, if the SSM  104  determines via the write bus  112  that the MPU  102  is attempting to write to the same location in the same stack two consecutive times (as is often done with buffer overflow attacks), the SSM  104  may generate one or more alert signals. The SSM  104  is not limited to the protective security measures described above. Any and all such monitoring techniques are encompassed within the scope of this disclosure. The three possible security techniques specifically mentioned above are now described in detail with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows the system  100  of  FIG. 1  in detail. The MPU  102  comprises a core  400  which couples to a plurality of caches  402 , a memory management unit (MMU)  404  and an interrupt handler  406 . The storage  106  comprises an interconnect  432  which couples ROM  424 , RAM  426 , SDRAM  428  and FLASH  430  with the write and read buses  112  and  114 . The security enforcement module  108  comprises a security attack indicator  420  and a program reset control module  422 . The SSM  104  comprises a write access handler  408  and a read access handler  410 . The write access handler  408  couples to a static firewall  416  and a dynamic firewall  418  via bus  434 . The read access handler  410  couples to the static firewall  416  and the dynamic firewall  418  via bus  436 . The dynamic firewall  418  couples with a violation handler  412  via bus  438  and registers  414  via bus  442 . The static firewall  416  couples with the violation handler  412  via bus  440  and registers  414  via bus  444 . The violation handler  412  couples with the security attack indicator  420  via bus  126 A and the program reset control module  422  via bus  126 B. The violation handler  412  further couples with the interface  110  via bus  446  and the interrupt handler  406  via bus  122 . 
         [0029]    As described above, memories in the storage  106  (e.g., ROM  424 , RAM  426 ) allocate memory space for a plurality of dedicated security mode stacks. Each security mode of the system  100  is assigned to one or more of the stacks, so that when the system  100  is operating in a particular security mode, the stack of that security mode is used to temporarily store data. If a thread switch occurs from a first thread to a second thread, the context of the stack used in the first thread is stored in the registers  414  (e.g., via interface  110  and bus  120 ), and a different stack is used in the second thread. As previously mentioned, the context of the stack may include information such as a range of memory addresses associated with the stack, a pointer indicating a current position in the stack, a security level associated with the stack, etc. In some embodiments, the registers  414  in the SSM  104  are programmed with the range of addresses associated with each dedicated security mode stack, as well as an identifier indicating the security mode associated with each stack. 
         [0030]    Data writes performed via the write bus  112  are monitored by the write access handler  408  via bus  118 . Likewise, data reads performed via the read bus  114  are monitored by the read access handler  410  via bus  116 . The write and read access handlers  408  and  410  decode signals carried on the buses  112  and  114  and transfer the decoded signals to the static firewall  416  and dynamic firewall  418  via buses  434  and  436 , respectively. 
         [0031]    Although each of the firewalls  416  and  418  monitors the decoded signals for different types of malicious activity, each of the firewalls operates in a similar manner. Specifically, each firewall receives a decoded signal from one of the write or read access handlers and compares the decoded signal to context information stored in the registers  414 . If, by performing such a comparison, a firewall determines that an attack is being carried out, the firewall sends a violation signal to the violation handler  412 . In turn, the violation handler  412  takes appropriate action to prevent or at least mitigate damage to the system  100 . Each of the firewalls is now described in turn. 
         [0032]    The static firewall  416  preferably is a hardware-based firewall. The static firewall  416  uses signals received from the write and read access handlers  408  and  410  to detect malicious activity. Specifically, each signal processed by the read access handler  408  comprises a memory address and further comprises data associated with that memory address. The static firewall  416  compares the memory address with each of the ranges of addresses associated with the security mode stacks stored in the storage  106 . If the memory address falls within one of these ranges, and further if the static firewall  416  determines that the read signal is an attempt to fetch an instruction op-code from this memory address, then it is determined that the MPU  102  is attempting to fetch an instruction op-code from a dedicated security mode stack, an action which is indicative of a buffer overflow attack. Accordingly, the static firewall  416  issues a violation signal to the violation handler  412  via bus  440 . The violation handler  412  services the violation signal as described further below. 
         [0033]    In addition, the static firewall  416  compares the address associated with each read and/or write signal to the ranges of addresses associated with the dedicated security mode stacks to determine if the MPU  102  is attempting to access a stack whose security level is higher than the current security level of the system  100 . Specifically, if it is determined that the MPU  102  is attempting to access a dedicated security mode stack, the static firewall  416  further compares the current security mode of the system  100  (i.e., determined using SECMON bus  128 ) to the security mode associated with that stack. If the two security modes match, or if the current security mode of the system  100  is more secure than the security mode associated with the stack, the static firewall  416  preferably takes no action. However, if the two security modes do not match, or if the current security mode of the system  100  is less secure than the security mode associated with the stack, the static firewall  416  issues a violation signal to the violation handler  412  via bus  440 . The violation handler  412  services the violation signal as described further below. 
         [0034]    Like the static firewall  416 , the dynamic firewall  418  preferably is a hardware-based firewall. The dynamic firewall  418  monitors stack accesses for activity that is indicative of a malicious attack. The dynamic firewall  418  may be programmed with one or more pre-determined activities which, if detected, indicate a malicious attack. If the activity detected on a read or write bus matches one of the pre-determined activities, the dynamic firewall  418  issues a violation signal to the violation handler  412  via bus  438 . For example, buffer overflow attacks are often characterized by the writing of data to the same memory location in the same stack two or more times in a row. If the dynamic firewall  418  detects two consecutive write signals that have the same destination memory address, and further if this destination memory address falls within an address ranges of a dedicated security mode stack (i.e., determined using registers  414  and bus  442 ), the dynamic firewall  418  may issue a violation signal to the violation handler  412  via bus  438 . 
         [0035]    Specifically, the dynamic firewall  418  may comprise a temporary storage (e.g., a register) in which it logs the destination memory address of each write operation to a dedicated security mode stack. Upon receiving a next write operation, the firewall  418  compares the destination address stored in the temporary storage with the destination memory address of the received write operation. If the two match, it is determined that the MPU  102  is attempting to write to the same location in the same stack two consecutive times in a row. As such activity is indicative of a buffer overflow attack, the firewall  418  issues a violation signal to the violation handler  412  via bus  438 . Multiple variations of this general security technique are possible, and the scope of this disclosure encompasses any and all such variations. 
         [0036]    Upon receiving a violation signal from a firewall, the violation handler  412  takes appropriate action to prevent or at least mitigate damage to the system  100 . Specifically, the violation handler  412  decodes a received violation signal to determine what type of action should be taken in response to the malicious activity being carried out on the system  100 . In some cases, the violation handler  412  may send an alert signal to the program reset control module  422 , thereby resetting a currently executing program. In other cases, the violation handler  412  may send an alert signal to the security attack indicator  420 , thereby providing an indication to a user of the system  100  that system integrity has been compromised. Such an indication may take the form of a visual indication (e.g., an alert message on a display, a flashing light-emitting-diode (LED)), an audible indication (e.g., a ring tone or a beeping tone), or a tactile indication (e.g., vibration), although the scope of this disclosure is not limited to these possibilities. In yet other cases, the violation handler  412  may send an alert signal to the interface  110 , causing the interface  110  to abort a current instruction op-code fetch or data retrieval. In still other cases, the violation handler  412  may send an alert signal to the interrupt handler  406 , causing the interrupt handler  406  to stop the core  400  from executing malicious code. In some embodiments, a combination of one or more of the above alert signals may be generated by the violation handler  412  in response to a received violation signal. The violation handler  412  may comprise a data structure that cross-references various types of possible violation signals with suitable actions that may be taken in response to receipt of the violation signals. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  shows a flow diagram of a method  500  usable in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The method  500  begins by determining a destination address of an access to storage  106  (block  502 ) and determining whether the MPU  102  is attempting to access dedicated security mode stacks (block  504 ). As described above, the firewalls in the SSM  104  may determine whether the MPU  102  is attempting to access dedicated security mode stacks by comparing the destination address of the access to the ranges of addresses stored in the registers  414  of the SSM  104 . If the MPU is not attempting to access the dedicated security mode stacks, control of the method  500  returns to block  502 . However, if the MPU is attempting to access one of the dedicated stacks, the method  500  also comprises determining whether the MPU is fetching an instruction op-code from the stack (block  506 ). If the MPU is fetching an instruction op-code from the stack, the method  500  comprises issuing a violation signal (block  512 ) and taking protective action (block  514 ). 
         [0038]    However, if the MPU is not fetching an op-code from a dedicated stack, the method  500  further comprises determining whether the current security mode of the system  100  (i.e., determined using the bus  128 ) is more secure than or equivalent in security to the security mode of the destination stack of the current access (block  508 ). If not, the method  500  comprises issuing a violation signal (block  512 ) and taking protective action (block  514 ). Otherwise, the method  500  comprises determining whether the destination address is the same as the destination address of a preceding write signal (block  510 ). If the destination address of the current access is identical to that of a preceding write signal, a buffer overflow attack is likely being carried out on the system  100 . Accordingly, the method  500  comprises issuing a violation signal (block  512 ) and taking protective action (block  514 ). Otherwise, control of the method  500  resumes at block  502 . 
         [0039]    The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.