CWE-1209 – Failure to Disable Reserved Bits

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Description

The reserved bits in a hardware design are not disabled prior to production. Typically, reserved bits are used for future capabilities and should not support any functional logic in the design. However, designers might covertly use these bits to debug or further develop new capabilities in production hardware. Adversaries with access to these bits will write to them in hopes of compromising hardware state.

Modes of Introduction:

– Architecture and Design

 

 

Related Weaknesses

CWE-710

 

Consequences

Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control, Accountability, Authentication, Authorization, Non-Repudiation: Varies by Context

This type of weakness all depends on the capabilities of the logic being controlled or configured by the reserved bits

 

Potential Mitigations

Phase: Architecture and Design, Implementation

Description: 

Phase: Integration

Description: 

CVE References