"Critical 'Starbleed' Vulnerability in FPGA Chips Identified"

Scientists from the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and from Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy have discovered that Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) contain a critical security vulnerability, dubbed "Starbleed." FPGAs are flexibly programmable computer chips implemented in many safety-critical applications such as cloud data centers, mobile phone base stations, encrypted USB-sticks, and industrial control systems. The Starbleed security bug can be exploited by attackers to take full control over FPGAs and their functionalities. According to researchers, the flaw can only be addressed by replacing the chips as it is integrated with the hardware. This article continues to discuss the use of FPGAs in safety-critical applications, how FPGA chips compare to conventional hardware chips, and the Starbleed vulnerability hidden in FPGA chips.

EurekAlert! reports "Critical 'Starbleed' Vulnerability in FPGA Chips Identified"