A Novel GPU Overdrive Fault Attack
Majid Sabbagh, Yunsi Fei, David Kaeli
Abstract
Graphics processing units (GPUs) are widely used to accelerate applications including cryptographic operations. The reliability and security of GPUs have become a concern. Prior work reported power and timing side-channel attacks on GPUs. In this paper, we present the first-ever overdrive fault attack targeting modern GPUs. This attack exploits voltage-frequency scaling features present on most commercial GPUs to introduce random faults during kernel execution. We demonstrate an effective fault-based attack on an AMD GPU, recovering the AES keys in minutes. Such software-controlled fault injections also pose serious threats to data integrity and service availability in the cloud.
Topics & Concepts
Computer scienceKernel (algebra)Fault injectionExploitCloud computingReliability (semiconductor)Side channel attackGraphicsFault (geology)CryptographyEmbedded systemSoftwareParallel computingComputer securityPower (physics)Operating systemMathematicsQuantum mechanicsSeismologyGeologyCombinatoricsPhysicsSecurity and Verification in ComputingCryptographic Implementations and SecurityAdvanced Malware Detection Techniques