OSTVIK TRUST SERVICES SECURITY BULLETIN OTS-SB-0031 · EMERGENCY PLATFORM ROOT TRANSITION Issued on behalf of the Platform Root Transition Group (41 participating organizations, Appendix A) Sunday · 6:00 a.m. ET · TLP:CLEAR
SUMMARY
Beginning today, every device that trusts Ostvik Platform Root CA R2 and can accept a trust store update will be offered a new root, Ostvik Platform Root PQ1.
Platform Root R2 uses RSA-2048. On the basis of guidance from government partners, participating organizations have concluded that an RSA-2048 signature can no longer be relied on to establish that a firmware or software update came from its manufacturer.
Platform Root PQ1 uses FN-DSA-1024 (FIPS 206), a lattice-based signature scheme. FN-DSA is not affected by the methods used to attack RSA and elliptic-curve signatures, including those now believed to be in use.
SCHEDULE
Hour 0 (today, 6:00 a.m. ET). Root transition packages are available through each manufacturer’s established update channel. These packages are signed under R2 and install PQ1 alongside it. Device owners do not need to take any action that differs from a routine update.
Days 0 through 6. Participating manufacturers will re-sign all currently supported firmware and software images under PQ1, so that devices which have installed PQ1 continue to receive updates. Approximately 2.4 million artifacts are in scope.
Day 10. Devices that have installed PQ1 will no longer accept updates signed only under R2.
IMPLEMENTATION
All signing under PQ1 is performed inside FIPS 140-3 validated hardware security modules operated by the participating organizations.
To remove implementation variance during an accelerated transition, every participant signs with the same build of the same FN-DSA implementation, nib 4.2.1.
Every signature issued under PQ1 is recorded in the PQ1 Transparency Log at the time of issuance. Device owners, researchers, and members of the public may verify any artifact against the log.
DEVICES THAT CANNOT ACCEPT A TRUST STORE UPDATE
Devices in which R2 is fixed in read-only memory, and devices that cannot be updated in the field, are outside the scope of this bulletin. Operators of these devices should refer to the Interim Coordination Guidance for Accelerated Cryptographic Transition and contact the manufacturer.
QUESTIONS
Do I need to do anything? Most device owners do not. Allow updates to install as usual. A device that updates automatically will take the new root without intervention. It may restart once.
Why ten days? Ten days is the shortest period in which participating manufacturers can re-sign and redistribute every currently supported image.
LIVE · Tech companies begin emergency fix for device security Updated continuously
6:14 a.m. ET More than forty technology companies, led by the certificate authority Ostvik Trust Services, began replacing the system that tells computers, servers, and other equipment whether a software update is genuine. The companies said the old system can no longer be trusted. The new one is designed to resist the attacks behind the payment failures that have hit banks for more than a week.
6:51 a.m. The White House called the announcement “a turning point” and thanked the companies “for moving at the speed this moment requires.”
7:38 a.m. Three of the largest laptop and desktop makers said the update would reach most of their machines by Tuesday. One said it had already reached eleven million devices.
9:05 a.m. Ostvik said its signing service received more requests in its first three hours than in all of last year. Several manufacturers reported they could not submit files. A company spokesperson said the service was “operating normally under heavy load.”
12:15 p.m. The Treasury Department said banks would begin “a parallel transition of their own” within days and asked customers not to visit branches to ask about it.
Family · 5 members
Rick · 6:22 AM LIVE · Tech companies begin emergency fix for device security THANK GOD. Told you they would fix it. Nate is this your thing?
Nate · 6:40 AM yes. going in they want every image we ship in the queue by noon
Carol · 6:41 AM On a Sunday? It’s Josie’s birthday.
Nate · 6:41 AM i know mom. party’s at 2. i’ll be there
Jess · 6:44 AM he’ll be there
Rick · 7:02 AM What does “re-sign” mean. Do you have to rewrite all of it
Nate · 7:10 AM no dad. same files. we send them to ostvik, they put the new signature on and send them back. it’s a stamp. nothing installs without the stamp
Rick · 7:11 AM Why does a stamp take until noon
Nate · 7:15 AM because we have 311 of them and it’s me and gabe
Carol · 8:30 AM Does this mean the bank will work again? Bev at church said her pension didn’t come Friday.
Nate · 8:52 AM not this. this is for devices. banks are doing their own thing tell bev to call her bank
Carol · 8:53 AM She called them but they’re closed on Sundays.
Nate · 9:14 AM portal’s down everybody in the country hit submit at 9
Emily · 9:40 AM nate my thermostat updated itself at like 6:30 and now it says TRUST STORE UPDATED. is that you
Nate · 9:41 AM which thermostat
Emily · 9:41 AM the one you put in
Nate · 9:42 AM then yes that’s me. congrats you’re on the new root
Rick · 10:05 AM Does mine need it?
Nate · 10:20 AM yours is from 2011 dad. it’s not connected to anything. it barely does heat
Nate · 11:48 AM portal’s back. all 311 submitted queue position 6,212
Jess · 11:49 AM what does that mean in hours
Nate · 11:53 AM they’re doing like 80k an hour so not long. it’s the testing after. every one has to come back and boot on a real unit before we push it
Nate · 12:40 PM now they want a list of everything we ever sold that can’t take the new root. that’s the 3000s. like 90,000 of them, mostly in schools
Nate · 1:31 PM 311 of 311 back. bench tests now
Jess · 1:50 PM we’re here. she wants to know where you are
Nate · 1:52 PM tell her 20 min
Nate · 2:46 PM 14 boards from the 7100 line won’t boot the new image. i have to stay
Jess · 2:47 PM ok
Jess · 3:04 PM she’s asked 3 times
Emily · 3:20 PM she blew them all out in one try. she said to save daddy a corner piece because corners have the most frosting
Nate · 5:58 PM found it. the new signature is 5 times bigger than the old one and the 7100 image header only had room for the old size. moved it. resubmitting the 14
Nate · 6:40 PM 14 of 14. leaving
Jess · 6:41 PM she’s asleep
Rick · 6:44 PM Dow futures up 900. Told you.
Carol · 6:51 PM Bev still hasn’t gotten her pension, Rick.
LIVE · Tech companies begin emergency fix for device security
9:41 p.m. ET Ostvik said late Sunday that more than 1.1 million artifacts had been signed under the new root since 6 a.m., well ahead of schedule.