CVE-2017-13094 in P1735
Summary
by MITRE
The P1735 IEEE standard describes flawed methods for encrypting electronic-design intellectual property (IP), as well as the management of access rights for such IP, including modification of the encryption key and insertion of hardware trojans in any IP. The methods are flawed and, in the most egregious cases, enable attack vectors that allow recovery of the entire underlying plaintext IP. Implementations of IEEE P1735 may be weak to cryptographic attacks that allow an attacker to obtain plaintext intellectual property without the key, among other impacts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/27/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2017-13094 represents a critical weakness in the IEEE P1735 standard for protecting electronic design intellectual property, fundamentally undermining the security assumptions of hardware IP protection mechanisms. This standard was designed to provide cryptographic safeguards for IP assets during design, manufacturing, and deployment phases, but the identified flaws create severe attack surfaces that compromise the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive intellectual property. The vulnerability specifically targets the encryption methodologies and access control mechanisms that are supposed to prevent unauthorized access to proprietary hardware designs, making it particularly dangerous for semiconductor companies and electronic design automation vendors who rely on these protections to maintain competitive advantages and protect their investments in research and development.
The technical flaw within IEEE P1735 stems from implementation weaknesses in the cryptographic algorithms used for IP encryption and key management processes. These weaknesses create multiple attack vectors that allow adversaries to bypass normal security controls and recover plaintext IP without possessing the legitimate encryption keys. The vulnerability enables what is essentially a cryptographic side-channel attack, where attackers can exploit implementation details and mathematical weaknesses in the encryption scheme to reverse-engineer protected designs. This weakness is particularly concerning because it operates at the fundamental level of cryptographic security rather than exploiting implementation bugs or configuration errors, meaning that even properly implemented systems following the standard could still be vulnerable. The flaw essentially allows for what is known as a "key recovery attack" or "plaintext recovery attack" that can completely compromise the security model that the standard was designed to provide.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple cryptographic weakness, as it fundamentally undermines the security architecture of IP protection systems that are critical to the semiconductor industry. Organizations implementing IEEE P1735 standards face significant risks including loss of competitive advantage, intellectual property theft, and potential compromise of national security assets in defense and aerospace applications. The vulnerability enables attackers to insert hardware trojans and modify encryption keys without detection, creating persistent backdoors that can be exploited over extended periods. This represents a sophisticated attack pattern that aligns with tactics documented in the attack framework, particularly those involving supply chain compromise and hardware-level attacks that target the foundational security mechanisms of integrated circuits. The implications are severe for companies that depend on IP protection to maintain their market position and protect their research investments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-13094 require immediate action to address both the cryptographic weaknesses and the implementation gaps that enable the attack vectors. Organizations should implement comprehensive security assessments of their existing IP protection systems to identify any implementations that follow the flawed IEEE P1735 standard, with particular attention to systems that have not been updated to address the known cryptographic weaknesses. The recommended approach includes transitioning to more robust encryption standards that have undergone extensive peer review and testing, such as those based on elliptic curve cryptography or other well-established cryptographic frameworks that have been validated against known attack patterns. Security teams should also implement continuous monitoring and anomaly detection systems to identify potential attempts at key manipulation or hardware trojan insertion, following best practices outlined in cybersecurity frameworks that address both software and hardware security concerns. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing multi-layered security approaches that include physical security controls, access restrictions, and regular security audits to compensate for the inherent weaknesses in the affected cryptographic implementations.