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MSP430FR2355: BSL , signature and mass erase

Colombo Carlo
Mastermind 23305 points
Part Number: MSP430FR2355
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSPBSL, , MSP430FG6425

HI everybody , 

my goal is to use  BSL  and  avoid somebody to  erase  the device and put their code on my  board ( using my logo etc ) .

If I well understood  when using BSL   with a password  ,   a bad password  force  a mass-erase  , am I right  ?     

using Signature  I can avoid this  since only a proper signature  allow me to enter BSL  : am I right ?

thank you 

regards

Carlo

PS  Jtag is disbaled by me to avoid attack from there .

  • 0
    TI__Guru 56685 points

    Hello Colombo,

    You are mostly correct. An incorrect password received by the BSL will perform a mass erases of the device with default settings. On this device you have two different options to avoid this behavior. For the exact process of how to enable these options with the BSL Signature, please see the family user guide for the part.

    1) Disable the mass erase mechanism. You can just disable this feature on this device. This would mean a wrong password does not erase the device, but by consequence it will allow unlimited password guesses. So you are potentially left open to brute force attacks (aka password guessing).

    2) Disable the BSL interface all together. Your device would not mass erase for a wrong password as the BSL will not respond to any attempt to use it as the interface is disabled. However, if your JTAG is locked as well, this would mean you would never be able to get into the device legitimately as well.

  • 0 in reply to Jace H
    TI__Mastermind 23305 points
    HI JH ,
    thank you , my fault I misunderstood signature usage .
    please is there any why to track if a BSP programming was tried ? : I mean to avoid brute force attack , can I in some way count BSL try ?
    or introducing a sort of timeout ?
    any idea is welcome
    thank you very much
    regards
    Carlo
  • 0 in reply to Colombo Carlo
    TI__Guru 56685 points

    Carlo,

    There is no features like you are asking for in the default BSL of the part. The default BSL for this part also cannot be changed as it is in ROM.

    You could potentially implement these features on an application side BSL (aka MSPFRBOOT), but there are trade offs for doing so and the default BSL is still on the device. So you would have to disable it if going for MSPFRBOOT.

    Trade offs would be reduced memory space for application due to BSL taking up some space. Also, additional complexity to your project due to ISR Proxy vector.

    Check out the MSPBSL page for more information about different MSP BSL options: 

    http://www.ti.com/tool/MSPBSL

     

    Other options include:

    • Moving to a higher performance / higher memory MSP430 FRAM part that supports the Crypto-BSL (an application side BSL that has enhanced security features, including encryption). These devices also contain additional security features such as the MPU , IP Protection, and an AES accelerator. These devices do not have the same level of analog integration as the MSP430FR2355 though. 
    • Moving to an MSP430 F5xx/6xx Flash device. These devices allow customizing the BSL as its contained within its own special Flash section. This way you could implement features like the one you are asking for on top of the default BSL for the part.You may find a device that meets your analog requirements (MSP430FG6425 comes to mind). However, these typically cost more as they are very feature rich and may contain modules/peripherals that are a don't care for you. They also typically have higher memory densities.

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