Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 29th Dec 2012 16:37 UTC
It's sad that we need this, but alas - Matthew Garret has made a list of Linux distributions that boot on Windows 8 PCs with Secure Boot enabled. Tellingly enough, the list is short. Very short. Can someone hack this nonsense into oblivion please?
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RE[2]: Validity period of signing keys ?
by Lennie on Sun 30th Dec 2012 12:34
in reply to "RE: Validity period of signing keys ?"
Member since:2007-09-22
I can't check what it does, I have no intention of buying such a device.
But the OS by default at least, would use the Internet to update the time every time it boots and even update the key database every so often.
If the manufacturer of an ARM device wants to be really sure that the time is correct it would use the onboard GPS device to update the time every so often.
So everytime the time gets updated it stops booting again.
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As "Secure boot" uses x509 certificates (SSL cerficates like for HTTPS) what is the validity period of these keys ?
Is it 5 years, 10 years ? 15 years ?
Because sounds to me like when you start up your Windows 8 ARM device (no disabled button for Secure Boot) in 15 years it might not boot anymore ?
Turns out, it is 15 to 20 years:
http://blog.fpmurphy.com/2012/11/list-secure-boot-certificates.html
Will the BIOS/firmware check this ?
So will your PC stop booting in the future ?
It's unlikely the UEFI BIOS will enforce the expiration date simply because it does not have any way of validating the date in the settings unless it has Internet-connectivity and can make an encrypted connection to a manufacturer-mandated clock source. If the BIOS just assumed that whatever the date is in the settings is correct then it would be terribly simple for malware to render the device unbootable: just set the date to something past 2040 and reboot. Similarly, block access to the manufacturer-mandated clock source and adjust the date manually every now and then to bypass the expiration date -- the expiration method would be totally, completely ineffective.