If a machine is reset while secrets are present in RAM, it may be
possible for code executed after the reboot to extract those secrets
from untouched memory. The Trusted Computing Group specified a mechanism
for requesting that the firmware clear all RAM on reset before booting
another OS. This is done by setting the MemoryOverwriteRequestControl
variable at startup. If userspace can ensure that all secrets are
removed as part of a controlled shutdown, it can reset this variable to
0 before triggering a hardware reboot.
Signed-off-by: Matthew Garrett <mjg59@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Ard Biesheuvel <ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Matt Fleming <matt@codeblueprint.co.uk>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
Cc: linux-efi@vger.kernel.org
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/20170825155019.6740-2-ard.biesheuvel@linaro.orgSigned-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>