Intel Management Engine: Difference between revisions

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== Uses of the Management Engine ==
== Uses of the Management Engine ==
The management engine(Often abreviated ME) is a CPU which permits [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-band_management Out of band] management of the computer. See the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology#Using_Intel_AMT Wikipedia AMT article] for example use cases.
The Intel Management Engine (abbreviated "ME") is a CPU which:
* permits [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-band_management out of band management] of the computer. See the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology#Using_Intel_AMT Wikipedia AMT article] for example use cases.
* on recent versions:
** initializes the hardware, before the boot firmware(BIOS/EFI/UEFI/Coreboot/etc...).
** DRM
** TPM
** Other applications


== Freedom and security issues ==
== Freedom and security issues ==
* The code that is running inside the management engine is proprietary and signed
 
* The management engine CPU has access to a lot of things, see "ME physical capabilities" for more details.
* The code that is running inside the management engine is proprietary and signed. Therefore, it cannot easily be audited, tested, or replaced, except by those people with access to the relevant private keys, i.e. a handful of Intel staff (and possibly government agents).
* The ME has access to a lot of things, see "physical capabilities" column below for more details.
* In addition to obvious attack vectors (the ME could be used by an adversary to spy on the PC user, tamper with their documents, etc), it could also potentially be used to alter the contents of the motherboard's BIOS flash chip, thereby polluting Coreboot builds based upon extracting the contents of that flash chip.
 
== Versions ==
{| class="wikitable"  border="1"
! ME firmware version
! Microarchitecture
! Chipset
! AMT versions
! ME firmware versions
! Applications
! Location
! Required modules
! Bit
|-
| N/A (ME predecessor)
|
| ICH7
| 1.0
|
|
* AMT
| 82573E Gigabit Ethernet Controller<ref name=amt-versions>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_AMT_versions</ref>
| rowspan="3" | None
| rowspan="3" | ?
|-
|
|
|Q963<ref name=amt-versions/>
| 2.0
|
|
* AMT
|-
|
|
|Q965<ref name=amt-versions/>
| 2.0
| 3.0<ref name=ark-DQ965GFE>https://ark.intel.com/products/41972/Intel-Desktop-Board-DQ965GFE</ref>
|
* AMT
* No TPM
|-
|-
|
* 6.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent>https://security-center.intel.com/advisory.aspx?intelid=INTEL-SA-00075</ref>
* 6.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 6.2<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 1st Gen Core:<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* Nehalem?
* Other?
|
|
|
|
|
| rowspan="6"|
* BUP<ref name=me_cleaner-how-does-it-work>https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/How-does-it-work%3F</ref>
| rowspan="6"|
* AltMeDisable<ref name=me_cleaner-HAP-AltMeDisable-bit>https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bit</ref>
|-
|
| Nehalem<ref name=intel-5-series>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_5_Series#Ibex_Peak</ref>
| Q57
| 6.0<ref name=amt-versions/>
| 6.0, 6.1 <ref name=ark-q57>https://ark.intel.com/products/42706/Intel-Q57-Express-Chipset</ref>
|
|-
|
* 7.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 7.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 2nd Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
* 8.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 8.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 3rd Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
* 9.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 9.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 9.5<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 4th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
* 10.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 5th Gen Core:<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* Broadwell
* Other?
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
* 11.x<ref name=me_cleaner-how-does-it-work/>
| Skylake
|
|
|
|
|
| rowspan="3"|
* RBE
* BUP
* KERNEL
* SYSLIB<ref name=me_cleaner-how-does-it-work/>
|
* HAP<ref name=me_cleaner-HAP-AltMeDisable-bit>https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/HAP-AltMeDisable-bit</ref>
|-
|
* 11.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 6th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
|
|
|
|
|
|-
 
|-
|
* 11.5<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
* 11.6<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
| 7th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
|
|
|
|
|
|}


== Where ==
== Where ==
Line 25: Line 178:
|-
|-
| [[Board:lenovo/x200|Lenovo x200]]
| [[Board:lenovo/x200|Lenovo x200]]
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT]
| Me firmware with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT] and other modules
| rowspan="1" | GM45/GS45
| rowspan="1" | GM45/GS45
| rowspan="1" |
| rowspan="15" |
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters  
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters  
| rowspan="2" |  
| rowspan="1" |  
* Signed firmware
* Signed firmware
* The ME can be disabled (no Fimrware is run by it).
* The ME can be disabled (no Fimrware is run by it).
|-
|-
| [[Board:lenovo/x201|Lenovo x201]]
| [[Board:lenovo/x201|Lenovo x201]]
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT]
| Me firmware with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT] and other modules
| rowspan="2" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalem_%28microarchitecture%29 Nehalem]
| rowspan="2" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalem_%28microarchitecture%29 Nehalem]
| rowspan="2" |
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters
| rowspan="2" |  
| rowspan="2" |  
* Signed firmware
* Signed firmware
Line 47: Line 196:
|-
|-
| [[Board:packardbell/ms2290|Packard Bell EasyNote LM85 (MS2290)]]
| [[Board:packardbell/ms2290|Packard Bell EasyNote LM85 (MS2290)]]
| AMT?
| ?
|-
|-
| [[Board:samsung/lumpy| Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook]]
| [[Board:samsung/lumpy| Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook]]
| [http://review.coreboot.org/gitweb?p=blobs.git;a=tree;f=mainboard/samsung/lumpy;h=b4c159f20789c0eacdf5a25135a3275d277cf256;hb=HEAD me.bin]
| [http://review.coreboot.org/gitweb?p=blobs.git;a=tree;f=mainboard/samsung/lumpy;h=b4c159f20789c0eacdf5a25135a3275d277cf256;hb=HEAD me.bin]
| rowspan="3" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_%28microarchitecture%29 Sandy Bridge]
| rowspan="3" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_%28microarchitecture%29 Sandy Bridge]
| rowspan="3" |
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters
| rowspan="3" |  
| rowspan="3" |  
* Signed firmware
* Signed firmware
Line 63: Line 208:
|-
|-
| [[Board:lenovo/t520| Lenovo t520]]
| [[Board:lenovo/t520| Lenovo t520]]
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT]
| Me firmware with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT] and other modules
|-
|-
| [[Board:google/butterfly| Google/HP Pavilion Chromebook 14]]
| [[Board:google/butterfly| Google/HP Pavilion Chromebook 14]]
| [http://review.coreboot.org/gitweb?p=blobs.git;a=tree;f=mainboard/google/butterfly;h=8b288bd915906a18379718be4b6080a3fd2cc554;hb=HEAD me.bin]
| [http://review.coreboot.org/gitweb?p=blobs.git;a=tree;f=mainboard/google/butterfly;h=8b288bd915906a18379718be4b6080a3fd2cc554;hb=HEAD me.bin]
| rowspan="7" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_%28microarchitecture%29 Ivy Bridge]
| rowspan="7" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_%28microarchitecture%29 Ivy Bridge]
| rowspan="7" |
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters
| rowspan="7" |  
| rowspan="7" |  
* Signed firmware
* Signed firmware
Line 85: Line 226:
|-
|-
| [[Board:lenovo/t530| Lenovo t530]]
| [[Board:lenovo/t530| Lenovo t530]]
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT]
| Me firmware with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT] and other modules
|-
|-
| [[Board:lenovo/x230| Lenovo x230]]
| [[Board:lenovo/x230| Lenovo x230]]
| [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT]
| Me firmware with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology AMT] and other modules
|-
|-
| [[Board:kontron/ktqm77| Kotron KTQM77/mITX]]
| [[Board:kontron/ktqm77| Kotron KTQM77/mITX]]
| AMT?
| ?
|-
|-
| [[Board:google/peppy|Google/Acer C720 Chromebook]]
| [[Board:google/peppy|Google/Acer C720 Chromebook]]
| ?
| ?
| rowspan="2" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_%28microarchitecture%29 Haswell]
| rowspan="2" | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_%28microarchitecture%29 Haswell]
| rowspan="2" |
The ME is inside the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Controller_Hub PCH], it:
* Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
* Controls the computer's original networking adapters
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
* Signed firmware
* Signed firmware
Line 121: Line 258:
* Some ships with it enabled, but it can be disabled not to use it at all, like on the [[Board:lenovo/x200|Lenovo x200]].
* Some ships with it enabled, but it can be disabled not to use it at all, like on the [[Board:lenovo/x200|Lenovo x200]].


== Replacing ME with smaller versions ==
== Neutralizing the ME ==
Most PCs ship a 5MiB version of ME firmware. It is possible to use a smaller version (2MiB), but you have to make sure that it matches the chipset you are running on.
 
You may want to use a smaller version to increase the maximum payload size by 3MiB.
A collaborative effort to neutralize the ME has found some success, see [https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner here]. This tool has been included in coreboot and can be enabled with the option "Strip down the Intel ME/TXE firmware" (CONFIG_USE_ME_CLEANER).
Search on the web for BIOS updates of different vendors with the '''same chipset''' and extract the ME using available tools.
 
Once you found a smaller ME, you have to update your Intel flash descriptor and decrease the region that is used for ME.
This can free up most of the space used by ME, allowing you to use a larger [[CBFS]]. See [https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/Internal-flashing-with-coreboot#neutralize-and-shrink-intel-me here].
 
== Using a smaller version of the Intel ME ==
 
Most PCs ship a 5MiB version of ME firmware. It is possible to use a smaller version (2MiB), but you have to make sure that it matches the chipset you are running on. You may want to use a smaller version to increase the maximum payload size by 3MiB. Search on the web for BIOS updates of different vendors with the '''same chipset''' and extract the ME using available tools. Once you found a smaller ME, you have to update your Intel flash descriptor and decrease the region that is used for ME.


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology The Wikipedia article on the Intel AMT]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_AMT_versions The Wikipedia article on the Intel AMT versions]
* http://me.bios.io/ME:About
* http://me.bios.io/ME:About
* http://me.bios.io/ME
* http://me.bios.io/ME
* [https://github.com/skochinsky/papers/raw/master/2014-10%20%5BBreakpoint%5D%20Intel%20ME%20-%20Two%20Years%20Later.pdf Igor Skochinsky Paper very good and detailed presentation about ME]
* [https://github.com/skochinsky/papers/raw/master/2014-10%20%5BBreakpoint%5D%20Intel%20ME%20-%20Two%20Years%20Later.pdf Igor Skochinsky Paper very good and detailed presentation about ME]
* [http://io.netgarage.org/me/ decompress ME v6.x through ME v10 (prior to skylake)]
* [http://io.netgarage.org/me/ decompress ME v6.x through ME v10 (prior to skylake)]
* [http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html Disabling Intel ME 11 via undocumented mode]
* [http://flashrom.org/ME The respective flashrom page]
* [http://flashrom.org/ME The respective flashrom page]


Latest revision as of 16:00, 12 January 2018

Uses of the Management Engine

The Intel Management Engine (abbreviated "ME") is a CPU which:

  • permits out of band management of the computer. See the Wikipedia AMT article for example use cases.
  • on recent versions:
    • initializes the hardware, before the boot firmware(BIOS/EFI/UEFI/Coreboot/etc...).
    • DRM
    • TPM
    • Other applications

Freedom and security issues

  • The code that is running inside the management engine is proprietary and signed. Therefore, it cannot easily be audited, tested, or replaced, except by those people with access to the relevant private keys, i.e. a handful of Intel staff (and possibly government agents).
  • The ME has access to a lot of things, see "physical capabilities" column below for more details.
  • In addition to obvious attack vectors (the ME could be used by an adversary to spy on the PC user, tamper with their documents, etc), it could also potentially be used to alter the contents of the motherboard's BIOS flash chip, thereby polluting Coreboot builds based upon extracting the contents of that flash chip.

Versions

ME firmware version Microarchitecture Chipset AMT versions ME firmware versions Applications Location Required modules Bit
N/A (ME predecessor) ICH7 1.0
  • AMT
 82573E Gigabit Ethernet Controller<ref name=amt-versions>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_AMT_versions</ref> None ?
Q963<ref name=amt-versions/> 2.0
  • AMT
Q965<ref name=amt-versions/> 2.0 3.0<ref name=ark-DQ965GFE>https://ark.intel.com/products/41972/Intel-Desktop-Board-DQ965GFE</ref>
  • AMT
  • No TPM
1st Gen Core:<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • Nehalem?
  • Other?
Nehalem<ref name=intel-5-series>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_5_Series#Ibex_Peak</ref> Q57 6.0<ref name=amt-versions/> 6.0, 6.1 <ref name=ark-q57>https://ark.intel.com/products/42706/Intel-Q57-Express-Chipset</ref>
  • 7.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 7.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 2nd Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 8.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 8.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 3rd Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 9.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 9.1<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 9.5<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 4th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 10.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 5th Gen Core:<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • Broadwell
  • Other?
  • 11.x<ref name=me_cleaner-how-does-it-work/>
 Skylake
  • RBE
  • BUP
  • KERNEL
  • SYSLIB<ref name=me_cleaner-how-does-it-work/>
  • 11.0<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 6th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 11.5<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
  • 11.6<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>
 7th Gen Core<ref name=Silent-Bob-is-Silent/>

Where

Board Firmware Microarchitecture ME location and physical capabilities ME restrictions
Lenovo X60/X60s/X60T None. <ref name="nic-amt">The Ethernet controller is capable of running some fimrwares( like AMT 1.0), but the hardware is not configured to do it on that machine. So no firmwares are loaded. See Intel_82573_Ethernet_controller for more details.</ref> I945 + ICH7
  • Inside the ethernet controller, disabled: no Ethernet controller fimrware. <ref name="nic-amt"></ref>
  • Disabled: No Ethernet controller fimrware. <ref name="nic-amt"></ref>
Lenovo T60
Lenovo x200 Me firmware with AMT and other modules GM45/GS45

The ME is inside the PCH, it:

  • Has access to the computer's memory/RAM
  • Controls the computer's original networking adapters
  • Signed firmware
  • The ME can be disabled (no Fimrware is run by it).
Lenovo x201 Me firmware with AMT and other modules Nehalem
  • Signed firmware
  • If ME firmware is absent, the computer freezes about 30min after boot.
Packard Bell EasyNote LM85 (MS2290) ?
Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook me.bin Sandy Bridge
  • Signed firmware
Samsung Series 3 Chromebox me.bin
Lenovo t520 Me firmware with AMT and other modules
Google/HP Pavilion Chromebook 14 me.bin Ivy Bridge
  • Signed firmware
Google Chromebook Pixel me.bin
Google/Acer C7 Chromebook me.bin
Google/Lenovo Thinkpad X131e Chromebook me.bin
Lenovo t530 Me firmware with AMT and other modules
Lenovo x230 Me firmware with AMT and other modules
Kotron KTQM77/mITX ?
Google/Acer C720 Chromebook ? Haswell
  • Signed firmware
Google/HP Chromebook 14 ?

Why there is no replacement for it yet

Replacing the ME firmware is not that easy because:

  • The ME bootrom checks the firmware signature.
  • On recent chipset its RAM region is locked while it is allocated.
  • Power glitches(by the ec) while the ME is checking its firmware is probably not practically doable.

So even if some people partially documented some ME firmware format, there is very few probability of having a free software replacement for it one day.

However coreboot also support other systems than the ones with recent intel CPU/chipsets. The List of supported mainboard list some of them.

  • Some of theses don't have a management engine.
  • Some ships without it enabled(that means that the hardware is not used).
  • Some ships with it enabled, but it can be disabled not to use it at all, like on the Lenovo x200.

Neutralizing the ME

A collaborative effort to neutralize the ME has found some success, see here. This tool has been included in coreboot and can be enabled with the option "Strip down the Intel ME/TXE firmware" (CONFIG_USE_ME_CLEANER).

This can free up most of the space used by ME, allowing you to use a larger CBFS. See here.

Using a smaller version of the Intel ME

Most PCs ship a 5MiB version of ME firmware. It is possible to use a smaller version (2MiB), but you have to make sure that it matches the chipset you are running on. You may want to use a smaller version to increase the maximum payload size by 3MiB. Search on the web for BIOS updates of different vendors with the same chipset and extract the ME using available tools. Once you found a smaller ME, you have to update your Intel flash descriptor and decrease the region that is used for ME.

See also

References

<references/>

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