Reversible validation of modifications to an IHS
Systems and methods are provided for secure and reversible modifications to hardware components of IHSs (Information Handling Systems). During factory provisioning of the IHS, a factory-signed inventory certificate is uploaded to the IHS that identifies factory-installed hardware of the IHS. Factory provisioning also generates an ownership voucher for the customer for which the IHS has been manufactured. The ownership voucher identifies an administrator that will receive the IHS in order to modify it for a particular deployment of the IHS by the customer. Upon receipt of the IHS by the administrator, validation procedures use the inventory certificate to validate the detected IHS hardware as factory-installed. The administrator makes modifications to the IHS and accesses the ownership voucher to assert ownership of the IHS. Based on the voucher, a delta certificate is created for use in validating and reversing the modifications by the administrator.
1 . An Information Handling System (IHS) that comprises:
one or more processors;
a replay protected memory block (RPMB) coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the RPMB is configured to require all access commands to be digitally signed based at least in part on a symmetric key; and
one or more memory devices coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more memory devices configured with stored computer-readable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors, cause the IHS to execute a validation process that comprises:
retrieve a factory-provisioned inventory certificate that specifies factory-installed hardware of the IHS;
validate, based at least in part, on a private key of a cryptographic key pair generated by the IHS, that the factory-provisioned inventory certificate was generated within a hardware root of trust of the IHS, wherein the private key was encrypted with a hardware root key (HRK) of the IHS programmed into an immutable memory of the IHS when the IHS was factory-provisioned, wherein the encrypted private key was stored in the RPMB, and wherein the encrypted private key is retrievable from the RPMB to perform the validation only after the root of trust of the IHS has been successfully established;
retrieve, from a remote voucher management system, an ownership voucher of the IHS that specifies an identity of a first administrator designated as prior owner of the IHS and an identity of a second administrator designated as owner of the IHS, wherein the ownership voucher was uploaded to the remote voucher system when the IHS was factory-provisioned;
based on presentation of the retrieved ownership voucher of the IHS by the second administrator, obtain a delta certificate that specifies a hardware modification by the second administrator to the factory-installed hardware specified in the inventory certificate; and
update the ownership voucher stored by the remote voucher system upon a transfer of the IHS to a third administrator, wherein the updated ownership voucher specifies the identity of the third administrator as the owner of the IHS and the identity of the second administrator as the prior owner of the IHS.
2 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein an administrator designated as the owner of the IHS in the ownership voucher is authorized to modify hardware of the IHS.
3 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the validation process is further configured to block generation of delta certificates without retrieval of the ownership voucher from the remote voucher management system.
4 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the validation process is further configured to block generation of delta certificates without the second administrator confirmed as the owner of the IHS based on an identity certificate used as the identity of the owner in the ownership voucher.
5 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the factory-provisioned inventory certificate is stored to a persistent memory of the IHS when the IHS is factory-provisioned.
6 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the validation process is further configured to:
collect an inventory of detected hardware of the IHS; and
validate the detected hardware of the IHS as factory-installed based on an inventory specified in the factory-provisioned inventory certificate.
7 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the delta certificate is obtained from a remote access controller of the IHS based on presentation of the retrieved ownership voucher.
8 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the remote voucher system comprises a Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) ownership tracking system.
9 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the ownership voucher of the IHS further comprises a digital signature of the factory-provisioned inventory certificate of the IHS.
10 . The IHS of claim 9 , wherein the ownership voucher of the IHS further comprises a digital signature of the delta certificate of the IHS that specifies a hardware modification by the second administrator.
11 . A memory storage device configured with program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by one or more processors of an Information Handling System (IHS) which comprises a replay protected memory block (RPMB) configured to require all access commands to be digitally signed using a symmetric key, cause the IHS to execute a validation process that comprises:
retrieve a factory-provisioned inventory certificate that specifies factory-installed hardware of the IHS;
decrypt, at least in part with a private key of a cryptographic key pair generated by the IHS, an encrypted signature associated with the factory-provisioned inventory certificate, wherein the private key was encrypted with a hardware root key (HRK) of the IHS programmed into an immutable memory of the IHS when the IHS was factory-provisioned, wherein the encrypted private key was stored in the RPMB, and wherein the encrypted private key is retrievable from the RPMB to perform a validation only after a root of trust of the IHS has been successfully established;
validate, based at least in part, on the decrypted signature, that the factory-provisioned inventory certificate was generated within the hardware root of trust of the IHS;
retrieve, from a remote voucher management system, an ownership voucher of the IHS that specifies an identity of a first administrator designated as prior owner of the IHS and an identity of a second administrator designated as owner of the IHS, wherein the ownership voucher is uploaded to the remote voucher system when the IHS is factory-provisioned;
based on presentation of the retrieved ownership voucher of the IHS by the second administrator, obtain a delta certificate that specifies a hardware modification by the second administrator to the factory-installed hardware specified in the inventory certificate; and
update the ownership voucher stored by the remote voucher system upon a transfer of the IHS to a third administrator, wherein the updated ownership voucher specifies the identity of the third administrator as the owner of the IHS and the identity of the second administrator as the prior owner of the HIS.
12 . The memory storage device of claim 11 , wherein an administrator designated as the owner of the IHS in the ownership voucher is authorized to modify hardware of the IHS.
13 . The memory storage device of claim 11 , wherein the validation process is further configured to block generation of delta certificates without retrieval of the ownership voucher from the remote voucher management system.
14 . The memory storage device of claim 13 , wherein the validation process is further configured to block generation of delta certificates without the second administrator confirmed as the owner of the IHS based on an identity certificate used as the identity of the owner in the ownership voucher.
15 . The memory storage device of claim 11 , wherein the factory-provisioned inventory certificate is stored to a persistent memory of the IHS when the IHS is factory-provisioned.
16 . A method for managing modifications to an Information Handling System (IHS) comprising a replay protected memory block (RPMB) requiring all access commands to be digitally signed using a symmetric key, the method comprising:
retrieving a factory-provisioned inventory certificate that specifies factory-installed hardware of the IHS;
decrypting, at least in part with a factory-provisioned hardware root key (HRK) of the IHS, an encrypted private key of a cryptographic key pair generated by the IHS;
decrypting, at least in part with the decrypted private key, an encrypted signature associated with the factory-provisioned inventory certificate, wherein the private key was encrypted using the HRK programmed into an immutable memory of the IHS when the IHS was factory-provisioned, wherein the encrypted private key was stored in the RPMB, and wherein the encrypted private key is retrievable from the RPMB to perform a validation only after a root of trust of the IHS has been successfully established;
validating, based at least in part, on the decrypted signature, that the factory-provisioned inventory certificate was generated within the hardware root of trust of the IHS;
retrieving, from a remote voucher management system, an ownership voucher of the IHS that specifies an identity of a first administrator designated as prior owner of the IHS and an identity of a second administrator designated as owner of the IHS, wherein the ownership voucher is uploaded to the remote voucher system as part of factory provisioning of the IHS;
based on presentation of the retrieved ownership voucher of the IHS by the second administrator, obtaining a delta certificate that specifies a hardware modification by the second administrator to the factory-installed hardware specified in the inventory certificate; and
updating the ownership voucher stored by the remote voucher system upon a transfer of the IHS to a third administrator, wherein the updated ownership voucher specifies the identity of the third administrator as the owner of the IHS and the identity of the second administrator as the prior owner of the IHS.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein an administrator designated as the owner of the IHS in the ownership voucher is authorized to modify hardware of the IHS.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises blocking generation of delta certificates without retrieval of the ownership voucher from the remote voucher management system.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises blocking generation of delta certificates without the second administrator confirmed as the owner of the IHS based on an identity certificate used as the identity of the owner in the ownership voucher.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises storing the factory-provisioned inventory certificate to a persistent memory of the IHS during the factory-provisioning of the IHS.