Google Groups Up with Ecosystem Companions to Improve Safety of SoC Processors

Feb 24, 2023Ravie LakshmananCellular Safety / Firmware

Google stated it is working with ecosystem companions to harden the safety of firmware that interacts with Android.

Whereas the Android working system runs on what’s known as the applying processor (AP), it is simply one of many many processors of a system-on-chip (SoC) that cater to varied duties like mobile communications and multimedia processing.

“Securing the Android Platform requires going past the confines of the Software Processor,” the Android crew said. “Android’s defense-in-depth technique additionally applies to the firmware working on bare-metal environments in these microcontrollers, as they’re a essential a part of the assault floor of a tool.”

The tech big stated the objective is to bolster the safety of software program working on these secondary processors (i.e., firmware) and make it tougher to take advantage of vulnerabilities over the air to realize distant code execution throughout the Wi-Fi SoC or the mobile baseband.

To that finish, Google famous that it is exploring and enabling compiler-based sanitizers and turning on reminiscence security options in firmware as exploit mitigation measures.

Given the useful resource constraints related to bare-metal targets, the thought is to “harden essentially the most uncovered assault floor – whereas minimizing any efficiency/stability influence,” the Mountain View-based firm defined.

One other key space is the usage of memory-safe programming languages like Rust for writing firmware code, persevering with its efforts to broaden its adoption throughout the platform.

“Hardening firmware working on bare-metal to materially enhance the extent of safety – throughout extra surfaces in Android – is likely one of the priorities of Android Safety,” Google stated.