Arbitrary Data Manipulation and Leakage with CPU Zero-Day Bugs on RISC-V

Explore critical CPU vulnerabilities in RISC-V architecture through this 41-minute Black Hat conference talk that reveals multiple architectural security flaws in off-the-shelf RISC-V processors. Learn about an automated approach for identifying CPU vulnerabilities, including the discovery of GhostWrite - a severe architectural vulnerability allowing unprivileged attackers to modify physical memory contents from containerized and virtualized environments. Examine two unprivileged "halt-and-catch-fire" instruction sequences and witness practical demonstrations of exploiting these vulnerabilities to interact with peripherals, gain root access, and execute code in machine-mode privilege level. Gain insights into proposed mitigations and recommendations for enhancing future CPU security, presented by researchers from CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security.