9bcc002f1e
me_cleaner is a tool to strip down Intel ME/TXE images by removing all
the non-fundamental code, while keeping the ME/TXE image valid and
suitable for booting the system. The remaining code (ROMP and BUP
modules) is the one responsible for the very basic initialization of
the ME/TXE subsystem and can't be removed.
This tool exploits the fact that:
* Each ME/TXE partition is signed individually and it is possible to
remove both the partition and the signature.
* The ME/TXE modules are not signed directly, instead they are hashed
and the list of their hashes is hashed again and signed: this
means that modifying a module doesn't invalidate the signature,
but only the hash of that single module.
* The modules hashes are checked only when the corresponding module
needs to be executed.
* The system can boot after the execution of the first module (BUP,
inside the FTPR partition), even if the subsequent stages fail.
Currently me_cleaner works on every Intel platform with Intel ME or
Intel TXE with the following limitations:
* Doesn't work when Intel Boot Guard is set in Verified Boot mode.
* Doesn't fully work on Nehalem yet.
* On Skylake and later generations, since the partitions' internal
structure has changed, me_cleaner leaves intact the FTPR
partition, removing all the the other partitions.
This tool has been tested on multiple platforms and architectures by
different users, and seems to be stable. The reports are available
here:
https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/issues/3
A more in-depth description of me_cleaner is available here:
https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/How-does-it-work%3F
Change-Id: I9013799e9adea0dea0775b9afe718de5fc4ca748
Signed-off-by: Nicola Corna <nicola@corna.info>
Reviewed-on: https://review.coreboot.org/18203
Tested-by: build bot (Jenkins)
Reviewed-by: Philipp Deppenwiese <zaolin.daisuki@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: Stefan Reinauer <stefan.reinauer@coreboot.org>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- coreboot README ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- coreboot is a Free Software project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS (firmware) found in most computers. coreboot performs a little bit of hardware initialization and then executes additional boot logic, called a payload. With the separation of hardware initialization and later boot logic, coreboot can scale from specialized applications that run directly firmware, run operating systems in flash, load custom bootloaders, or implement firmware standards, like PC BIOS services or UEFI. This allows for systems to only include the features necessary in the target application, reducing the amount of code and flash space required. coreboot was formerly known as LinuxBIOS. Payloads -------- After the basic initialization of the hardware has been performed, any desired "payload" can be started by coreboot. See http://www.coreboot.org/Payloads for a list of supported payloads. Supported Hardware ------------------ coreboot supports a wide range of chipsets, devices, and mainboards. For details please consult: * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards * http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Chipsets_and_Devices Build Requirements ------------------ * make * gcc / g++ Because Linux distribution compilers tend to use lots of patches. coreboot does lots of "unusual" things in its build system, some of which break due to those patches, sometimes by gcc aborting, sometimes - and that's worse - by generating broken object code. Two options: use our toolchain (eg. make crosstools-i386) or enable the ANY_TOOLCHAIN Kconfig option if you're feeling lucky (no support in this case). * iasl (for targets with ACPI support) Optional: * doxygen (for generating/viewing documentation) * gdb (for better debugging facilities on some targets) * ncurses (for 'make menuconfig' and 'make nconfig') * flex and bison (for regenerating parsers) Building coreboot ----------------- Please consult http://www.coreboot.org/Build_HOWTO for details. Testing coreboot Without Modifying Your Hardware ------------------------------------------------ If you want to test coreboot without any risks before you really decide to use it on your hardware, you can use the QEMU system emulator to run coreboot virtually in QEMU. Please see http://www.coreboot.org/QEMU for details. Website and Mailing List ------------------------ Further details on the project, a FAQ, many HOWTOs, news, development guidelines and more can be found on the coreboot website: http://www.coreboot.org You can contact us directly on the coreboot mailing list: http://www.coreboot.org/Mailinglist Copyright and License --------------------- The copyright on coreboot is owned by quite a large number of individual developers and companies. Please check the individual source files for details. coreboot is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Some files are licensed under the "GPL (version 2, or any later version)", and some files are licensed under the "GPL, version 2". For some parts, which were derived from other projects, other (GPL-compatible) licenses may apply. Please check the individual source files for details. This makes the resulting coreboot images licensed under the GPL, version 2.