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Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) Security & Firmware

posts

2022

Cloudflare is enhancing the security and manageability of its server fleet by adopting OpenBMC, an open-source firmware for Baseboard Management Controllers (BMCs). This move aims to provide greater transparency, faster patching, and more control over firmware, including the integration of TLS certificates and fine-grained credential management. Furthermore, Cloudflare is extending its secure boot capabilities to the BMC itself, leveraging hardware root-of-trust and security co-processors to validate BMC firmware signatures, thereby reducing the impact of malicious implants and ensuring a more robust security chain from system power-on.

2022

Cloudflare’s approach to handling BMC vulnerabilities

5/26/2022

This post details Cloudflare's response to critical vulnerabilities discovered in BMC software used in their fleet. It outlines the background of BMCs, the specific vulnerabilities (Pantsdown, USBAnywhere, and others related to AST2400/AST2500 chips), and the mitigation strategies employed, including firmware updates, network segmentation, reduced exposure of BMC interfaces, strict password policies, and comprehensive logging. The post also announces Cloudflare's strategic shift towards OpenBMC for future BMC firmware and the extension of secure boot to the BMC itself.