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:
Mar. 29, 2022
Filed:
Oct. 07, 2019
Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc, Redmond, WA (US);
Neeraj Ladkani, Bothell, WA (US);
Bryan David Kelly, Carnation, WA (US);
MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A computing device includes circuitry that is configured to disable a physical interface between a baseboard management controller (BMC) and a processor when the BMC is not running and a logical interface between the BMC and the processor is not available. Disabling the physical interface prevents an attacker from writing malicious code to the BMC using the physical interface. The computing device also includes circuitry that enables the physical interface between the BMC and the processor in response to receiving a unique signal sequence from a trusted external entity. When firmware should be installed on the BMC, someone with proper authorization can cause the trusted external entity to send the unique signal sequence to the circuitry on the computing device, thereby enabling the physical interface between the BMC and the processor. The processor can then write the firmware to non-volatile memory within the BMC across the physical interface.