Secure Operations on Tree-Formed Verification Data

Abstract: We define secure operations with tree-formed, protected verification data registers. Functionality is conceptually added to Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs) to handle Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs) which represent roots of hash trees protecting the integrity of tree-formed Stored Measurement Logs (SMLs). This enables verification and update of an inner node of an SML and even attestation to its value with the same security level as for ordinary PCRs. As an important application, it is shown how certification of SML subtrees enables attestation of platform properties.