HEXACON2024 – AMD Sinkclose Universal Ring -2 Privilege Escalation by E. Nissim & K. Okupski

The video discusses the AMD Silo vulnerability, a significant architectural flaw affecting System Management Mode (SMM) in AMD processors. Presenters Sri Nim and G. Christopher Kopski explain how this vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution with high privileges, evading detection by operating systems and security measures. Through detailed technical explanations, they articulate the implications of this flaw in terms of system security and potential exploits.

Key Points:

Introduction to System Management Mode (SMM) and its capabilities.

SMM provides full access to system memory and is hidden from operating systems and hypervisors.

Architectural conditions that create vulnerabilities in AMD’s implementation of SMM.

Differences in security arrangements between AMD and Intel processors concerning SMM.

Research findings include multiple CVEs related to misconfigurations and vulnerabilities specific to vendors.

Methodology for exploiting an architectural flaw allowing execution of arbitrary code in SMM.

Debugging challenges faced during the exploit development process.

Potential exploit scenarios leading to firmware-level attacks and implications for secure boot mechanisms.

Estimation of potentially hundreds of millions of affected AMD processors due to the flaw.

Discussion on mitigations provided by AMD, including microcode updates.

Future directions for the release of related exploit code and community engagement with AMD for fixes.