# Host-Based Security Workflows

## Introduction

It is recommended to have an uninterrupted power supply while enabling security features on ESP32 SoCs. Power failures during the secure manufacturing process could cause issues that are hard to debug and, in some cases, may cause permanent boot-up failures.

This guide highlights an approach where security features are enabled with the assistance of an external host machine. Security workflows are broken down into various stages and key material is generated on the host machine; thus, allowing greater recovery chances in case of power or other failures. It also offers better timings for secure manufacturing, e.g., in the case of encryption of firmware on the host machine vs. on the device.

## Goals

1. Simplify the traditional workflow with stepwise instructions.

2. Design a more flexible workflow as compared to the traditional firmware-based workflow.

3. Improve reliability by dividing the workflow into small operations.

4. Eliminate dependency on Second Stage Bootloader (firmware bootloader).

## Pre-requisite

- `esptool`: Please make sure the `esptool` has been installed. It can be installed by running:

    pip install esptool

## Scope

- Enable Flash Encryption and Secure Boot V2 Externally

- Enable Flash Encryption Externally

- Enable Secure Boot V2 Externally

- Enable NVS Encryption Externally

## Security Workflows

### Enable Flash Encryption and Secure Boot V2 Externally

Important

It is recommended to enable both Flash Encryption and Secure Boot V2 for a production use case.

When enabling the Flash Encryption and Secure Boot V2 together we need to enable them in the following order:

1. Enable the Flash Encryption feature by following the steps listed in Enable Flash Encryption Externally.

2. Enable the Secure Boot V2 feature by following the steps listed in Enable Secure Boot V2 Externally.

The reason for this order is as follows:

Note

To enable the Secure Boot (SB) V2, it is necessary to keep the SB V2 key readable. To protect the key's readability, the write protection for `RD_DIS` (`ESP_EFUSE_WR_DIS_RD_DIS`) is applied. However, this action poses a challenge when attempting to enable Flash Encryption, as the Flash Encryption (FE) key needs to remain unreadable. This conflict arises because the `RD_DIS` is already write-protected, making it impossible to read protect the FE key.

### Enable Flash Encryption Externally

In this case, all the eFuses related to Flash Encryption are written with help of the espefuse tool. More details about flash encryption can be found in the Flash Encryption Guide

1. Check device status

> Ensure that you have an ESP32-C2 device with default Flash Encryption eFuse settings as shown in Relevant eFuses.

> See how to check ESP32-C2 Flash Encryption Status.

> At this point, the Flash Encryption must not be already enabled on the chip. Additionally, the flash on the chip needs to be erased, which can be done by running:

>     esptool.py --port PORT erase_flash

2. Generate a Flash Encryption key

> A random Flash Encryption key can be generated by running:

> If Size of generated AES-XTS key is AES-128 (256-bit key):

>     espsecure.py generate_flash_encryption_key my_flash_encryption_key.bin

> else if Size of generated AES-XTS key is AES-128 key derived from 128 bits (SHA256(128 bits)):

>     espsecure.py generate_flash_encryption_key --keylen 128 my_flash_encryption_key.bin

3. Burn the Flash Encryption key into eFuse

> This action cannot be reverted. It can be done by running:

> For AES-128 (256-bit key) - `XTS_AES_128_KEY` (the `XTS_KEY_LENGTH_256` eFuse will be burn to 1):

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_key BLOCK_KEY0 flash_encryption_key256.bin XTS_AES_128_KEY

> For AES-128 key derived from 128 bits (SHA256(128 bits)) - `XTS_AES_128_KEY_DERIVED_FROM_128_EFUSE_BITS`. The FE key will be written in the lower part of eFuse BLOCK_KEY0. The upper 128 bits are not used and will remain available for reading by software. Using the special mode of the espefuse tool, shown in the `For burning both keys together` section below, the user can write their data to it using any espefuse commands.

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_key BLOCK_KEY0 flash_encryption_key128.bin XTS_AES_128_KEY_DERIVED_FROM_128_EFUSE_BITS

> For burning both keys together (Secure Boot and Flash Encryption):

>     espefuse.py --port PORT --chip esp32c2 burn_key_digest secure_boot_signing_key.pem \
>                                               burn_key BLOCK_KEY0 flash_encryption_key128.bin XTS_AES_128_KEY_DERIVED_FROM_128_EFUSE_BITS

4. Burn the `SPI_BOOT_CRYPT_CNT` eFuse

> If you only want to enable Flash Encryption in Development mode and want to keep the ability to disable it in the future, Update the SPI_BOOT_CRYPT_CNT value in the below command from 7 to 0x1 (not recommended for production).

>     espefuse.py --port PORT --chip esp32c2 burn_efuse SPI_BOOT_CRYPT_CNT 7

5. Burn Flash Encryption-related security eFuses as listed below

> 1. Burn security eFuses

> > Important

> > For production use cases, it is highly recommended to burn all the eFuses listed below.

> > - `DIS_DOWNLOAD_ICACHE`: Disable UART cache

> > - `DIS_DIRECT_BOOT`: Disable direct boot (legacy SPI boot mode)

> > - `DIS_PAD_JTAG`: Disable JTAG permanently

> > - `DIS_DOWNLOAD_MANUAL_ENCRYPT`: Disable UART bootloader encryption access

> > The respective eFuses can be burned by running:

> >     espefuse.py burn_efuse --port PORT EFUSE_NAME 0x1

> > Note

> > Please update the EFUSE_NAME with the eFuse that you need to burn. Multiple eFuses can be burned at the same time by appending them to the above command (e.g., EFUSE_NAME VAL EFUSE_NAME2 VAL2). More documentation about espefuse.py can be found here.

6. Configure the project

> The bootloader and the application binaries for the project must be built with Flash Encryption Release mode with default configurations.

> Flash encryption Release mode can be set in the menuconfig as follows:

> - Enable Flash Encryption on boot

> - Select Release mode (Note that once Release mode is selected, the `EFUSE_DIS_DOWNLOAD_MANUAL_ENCRYPT` eFuse bit will be burned to disable Flash Encryption hardware in ROM Download Mode)

> - Select UART ROM download mode (Permanently switch to Secure mode (recommended)). This is the default option and is recommended. It is also possible to change this configuration setting to permanently disable UART ROM download mode, if this mode is not needed

> - Select the appropriate bootloader log verbosity

> - Save the configuration and exit

7. Build, Encrypt and Flash the binaries

> The binaries can be encrypted on the host machine by running:

>     espsecure.py encrypt_flash_data --aes_xts --keyfile my_flash_encryption_key.bin --address 0x1000 --output bootloader-enc.bin build/bootloader/bootloader.bin

>     espsecure.py encrypt_flash_data --aes_xts --keyfile my_flash_encryption_key.bin --address 0x8000 --output partition-table-enc.bin build/partition_table/partition-table.bin

>     espsecure.py encrypt_flash_data --aes_xts --keyfile my_flash_encryption_key.bin --address 0x10000 --output my-app-enc.bin build/my-app.bin

> In the above command the offsets are used for a sample firmware, the actual offset for your firmware can be obtained by checking the partition table entry or by running idf.py partition-table. Please note that not all the binaries need to be encrypted, the encryption applies only to those generated from the partitions which are marked as `encrypted` in the partition table definition file. Other binaries are flashed unencrypted, i.e., as a plain output of the build process.

> The above files can then be flashed to their respective offset using `esptool.py`. To see all of the command line options recommended for `esptool.py`, see the output printed when `idf.py build` succeeds.

> When the application contains the following partition: `otadata`, `nvs_encryption_keys` they need to be encrypted as well. Please refer to Encrypted Partitions for more details about encrypted partitions.

> Note

> If the flashed ciphertext file is not recognized by the ESP32-C2 when it boots, check that the keys match and that the command line arguments match exactly, including the correct offset. It is important to provide the correct offset as the ciphertext changes when the offset changes.

> The command `espsecure.py decrypt_flash_data` can be used with the same options (and different input/output files), to decrypt ciphertext flash contents or a previously encrypted file.

8. Secure the ROM Download mode

Warning

Please perform the following step at the very end. After this eFuse is burned, the espefuse tool can no longer be used to burn additional eFuses.

Disable UART ROM DL mode:

> - `UART_DOWNLOAD_DIS` : Disable the UART ROM Download mode

> The eFuse can be burned by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_efuse UART_DOWNLOAD_DIS

Enable Security Download mode:

> - `ENABLE_SECURITY_DOWNLOAD`: Enable Secure ROM download mode

> The eFuse can be burned by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_efuse ENABLE_SECURITY_DOWNLOAD

Important

9. Delete Flash Encryption key on host

   > Once the Flash Encryption has been enabled for the device, the key must be deleted immediately. This ensures that the host cannot produce encrypted binaries for the same device going forward. This step is important to reduce the vulnerability of the flash encryption key.

#### Flash Encryption Guidelines

- It is recommended to generate a unique Flash Encryption key for each device for production use-cases.

- It is recommended to ensure that the RNG used by host machine to generate the Flash Encryption key has good entropy.

- See Limitations of Flash Encryption for more details.

### Enable Secure Boot V2 Externally

In this workflow, we shall use `espsecure` tool to generate signing keys and use the `espefuse` tool to burn the relevant eFuses. The details about the Secure Boot V2 process can be found at Secure Boot V2 Guide

1. Generate Secure Boot V2 Signing Private Key

> The Secure Boot V2 signing key for ECDSA scheme can be generated by running:

>     espsecure.py generate_signing_key --version 2 --scheme ecdsa256 secure_boot_signing_key.pem

> The scheme in the above command can be changed to `ecdsa192` to generate ecdsa192 private key.

2. Generate Public Key Digest

> The public key digest for the private key generated in the previous step can be generated by running:

>     espsecure.py digest_sbv2_public_key --keyfile secure_boot_signing_key.pem --output digest.bin

3. Burn the key digest in eFuse

> The public key digest can be burned in the eFuse by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT --chip esp32c2 burn_key KEY_BLOCK0 digest.bin SECURE_BOOT_DIGEST

4. Enable Secure Boot V2

> Secure Boot V2 eFuse can be enabled by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT --chip esp32c2 burn_efuse SECURE_BOOT_EN

5. Burn relevant eFuses

> 1. Burn security eFuses

> > Important

> > For production use cases, it is highly recommended to burn all the eFuses listed below.

> > - `DIS_DIRECT_BOOT`: Disable direct boot (legacy SPI boot mode)

> > - `DIS_PAD_JTAG`: Disable JTAG permanently

> > The respective eFuses can be burned by running:

> >     espefuse.py burn_efuse --port PORT EFUSE_NAME 0x1

> > Note

> > Please update the EFUSE_NAME with the eFuse that you need to burn. Multiple eFuses can be burned at the same time by appending them to the above command (e.g., EFUSE_NAME VAL EFUSE_NAME2 VAL2). More documentation about espefuse.py can be found here

> 2. Secure Boot V2-related eFuses

> > 1. Disable the read-protection option:

> > The Secure Boot digest burned in the eFuse must be kept readable otherwise the Secure Boot operation would result in a failure. To prevent the accidental enabling of read protection for this key block, the following eFuse needs to be burned:

> > Important

> > After burning above-mentioned eFuse, the read protection cannot be enabled for any key. E.g., if Flash Encryption which requires read protection for its key is not enabled at this point, then it cannot be enabled afterwards. Please ensure that no eFuse keys are going to need read protection after completing this step.

> >     espefuse.py -p $ESPPORT write_protect_efuse RD_DIS

6. Configure the project

> By default, the ROM bootloader would only verify the Second Stage Bootloader (firmware bootloader). The firmware bootloader would verify the app partition only when the CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT option is enabled (and CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT_VERSION is set to `SECURE_BOOT_V2_ENABLED`) while building the bootloader.

> 1. Open the Project Configuration Menu, in "Security features" set "Enable hardware Secure Boot in bootloader" to enable Secure Boot.

> The "Secure Boot V2" option will be selected and the "App Signing Scheme" will be set to ECDSA (V2) by default.

> 2. Disable the option CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT_BUILD_SIGNED_BINARIES for the project in the Project Configuration Menu. This shall make sure that all the generated binaries are secure padded and unsigned. This step is done to avoid generating signed binaries as we are going to manually sign the binaries using `espsecure` tool.

7. Build, Sign and Flash the binaries

> After the above configurations, the bootloader and application binaries can be built with `idf.py build` command.

> The Secure Boot V2 workflow only verifies the `bootloader` and `application` binaries, hence only those binaries need to be signed. The other binaries (e.g., `partition-table.bin`) can be flashed as they are generated in the build stage.

> The `bootloader.bin` and `app.bin` binaries can be signed by running:

>     espsecure.py sign_data --version 2 --keyfile secure_boot_signing_key.pem --output bootloader-signed.bin build/bootloader/bootloader.bin

>     espsecure.py sign_data --version 2 --keyfile secure_boot_signing_key.pem --output my-app-signed.bin build/my-app.bin

> The signatures attached to a binary can be checked by running:

>     espsecure.py signature_info_v2 bootloader-signed.bin

> The above files along with other binaries (e.g., partition table) can then be flashed to their respective offset using `esptool.py`. To see all of the command line options recommended for `esptool.py`, see the output printed when `idf.py build` succeeds. The flash offset for your firmware can be obtained by checking the partition table entry or by running `idf.py partition-table`.

8. Secure the ROM Download mode:

Warning

Please perform the following step at the very end. After this eFuse is burned, the espefuse tool can no longer be used to burn additional eFuses.

Disable UART ROM DL mode:

> - `UART_DOWNLOAD_DIS` : Disable the UART ROM Download mode

> The eFuse can be burned by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_efuse UART_DOWNLOAD_DIS

Enable Security Download mode:

> - `ENABLE_SECURITY_DOWNLOAD`: Enable Secure ROM download mode

> The eFuse can be burned by running:

>     espefuse.py --port PORT burn_efuse ENABLE_SECURITY_DOWNLOAD

#### Secure Boot V2 Guidelines

- It is recommended to store the Secure Boot key in a highly secure place. A physical or a cloud HSM may be used for secure storage of the Secure Boot private key. Please take a look at Remote Signing of Images for more details.

### Enable NVS Encryption Externally

The details about NVS Encryption and related schemes can be found at NVS Encryption.

#### Enable NVS Encryption based on Flash Encryption

In this case we generate NVS Encryption keys on a host. This key is then flashed on the chip and protected with help of the Flash Encryption feature.

1. Generate the NVS Encryption key

> For generation of respective keys, we shall use NVS partition generator utility. We shall generate the encryption key on host and this key key shall be stored on the flash of ESP32-C2 in encrypted state.

> The key can be generated with the nvs_flash/nvs_partition_generator/nvs_partition_gen.py script with help of the following command:

>     python3 nvs_partition_gen.py generate-key --keyfile nvs_encr_key.bin

> This shall generate the respective key in the `keys` folder.

2. Generate the encrypted NVS partition

> We shall generate the actual encrypted NVS partition on host. More details about generating the encryption NVS partition can be found at Generate Encrypted NVS Partition. For this, the contents of the NVS file shall be available in a CSV file. Please refer CSV File Format for more details.

> The encrypted NVS partition can be generated with following command:

>     python3 nvs_partition_gen.py encrypt sample_singlepage_blob.csv nvs_encr_partition.bin 0x3000 --inputkey keys/nvs_encr_key.bin

> Some command arguments are explained below:

> - CSV file name - In this case sample_singlepage_blob.csv is the CSV file which contains the NVS data, Replace this with the file you wish to choose.

> - NVS partition offset - This is the offset at which that NVS partition shall be stored in the flash of ESP32-C2. The offset of your nvs-partition can be found be executing idf.py partition-table in the projtect directory. Please update the sample value of 0x3000 in the above-provided command to the correct offset.

3. Configure the project

> - Enable NVS Encryption by enabling CONFIG_NVS_ENCRYPTION.

> - Set NVS to use Flash Encryption based scheme by setting CONFIG_NVS_SEC_KEY_PROTECTION_SCHEME to `CONFIG_NVS_SEC_KEY_PROTECT_USING_FLASH_ENC`.

4. Flash NVS partition and NVS Encryption keys

> The NVS partition (`nvs_encr_partition.bin`) and NVS Encryption key (`nvs_encr_key.bin`) can then be flashed to their respective offset using `esptool.py`. To see all of the command line options recommended for `esptool.py`, check the output printed when `idf.py build` succeeds. If Flash encryption is enabled for the chip then please encrypt the partition first before flashing. You may refer the flashing related steps of Flash Encryption workflow.

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