The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 17, 2019
Filed:
Sep. 29, 2017
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Joshua P. de Cesare, Campbell, CA (US);
Timothy R. Paaske, Cupertino, CA (US);
Xeno S. Kovah, Mountain View, CA (US);
Nikolaj Schlej, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Jeffrey R. Wilcox, San Jose, CA (US);
Hardik K. Doshi, Los Altos, CA (US);
Kevin H. Alderfer, San Francisco, CA (US);
Corey T. Kallenberg, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for protecting boot variables is disclosed. A computer system includes a main processor and an auxiliary processor. The auxiliary processor includes a non-volatile memory that stores variables associated with boot code that is also stored thereon. The main processor may send a request to the auxiliary processor to alter one of the variables stored in the non-volatile memory. Responsive to receiving the request, the auxiliary processor may execute a security policy to determine if the main processor meets the criteria for altering the variable. If the auxiliary processor determines that the main processor meets the criteria, it may grant permission to alter the variable.