UEFI
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
Firmware that starts the machine and loads the operating system.
Where It Sits
The small stack marks its layer. Beside it, each related technology links to its own page.
- App
- Framework
- Web Server
- Runtime
- Containers
- OS
- Hypervisor
- FirmwareUEFI
- Hardware
- Data
About
UEFI is the firmware that runs first when a machine powers on. It sets up the hardware and starts the operating system's boot loader, and it replaced the older BIOS. It sits below the operating system, so it cannot be seen from the network, and malware planted in it survives a reinstall.
If It Has a Flaw
Code planted below the operating system is hard to see and hard to remove. It can survive a wipe and reinstall, and it runs before any security software starts.
A flaw exposes what runs on it.
- Containers
Docker
Kubernetes- Operating System
Windows Server
Linux
Well-Known Flaws
Each flaw has a CVE id, the unique number a publicly known vulnerability is given so that every advisory names the same flaw. The id links to the advisory, and the card says what the flaw let an attacker do and how far it reached because of where UEFI sits.
CVE-2020-10713 (opens in a new tab)2020
BootHole
An attacker with root or physical access could run code in GRUB2 at boot, past Secure Boot.
Reach It ran before the operating system and its security tools, on every boot.
Stacks and Code
Its code arrives from the sources listed, and each source's page says how bad code could get in through it.
- Its Code Comes From
- Vendor Updates