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submitted 10 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] xradeon@lemmy.one 8 points 10 months ago

The private key would have to stored in clear text somewhere. Potentially if you had non volatile space on cpu that to store the private key, that might work. But if you’re going to do that, might as well just use an ftpm.

[-] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Why not store it directly in the TPM, if that's the device that will do that initial decryption?

[-] xradeon@lemmy.one 1 points 10 months ago

You can't do that since vulnerability is the connection between the TPM and the CPU, you need to encrypt that path.

[-] Lojcs@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago

Pretty sure they meant if you need to keep a persistent public/private pair you can keep them in the tpm and initiate the exchange from there

[-] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

That's correct. I'm guessing if it hasn't been implemented yet, then there is some technical roadblock I'm currently missing.

[-] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

The TPM comes out from the factory with a private key stored in it. The CPU has the public key.

You turn on the laptop for the first time, and the communication between the CPU and the TPM is encrypted from the start.

That's what I'm referring to. Can't this be done? I'm guessing it's not that easy because I'm sure computer designers have already considered this idea.

[-] jet@hackertalks.com 2 points 10 months ago

Right and not to mention pairing the cpu and tpm for key exchange to avoid mitm attacks...

[-] Lojcs@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Just generate one anew. You don't need to use the same one each time

[-] xradeon@lemmy.one 1 points 10 months ago

What do you mean by that? Generate a new private/public key pair every time you setup a new TPM? Or when you boot the system or something?

[-] Lojcs@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

On each connection. Or boot. Whenever you need

Edit: to be clear, this would still be vulnerable to mitm attacks without a user entered password on top but at least you can't just read the secrets from the bus. E2: And having a password wouldn't be fully secure without such a scheme neither

this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024
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