m900 tower port + TPM1 counter auth and defend lock fixes by tlaurion · Pull Request #2118 · linuxboot/heads

tlaurion · 2026-05-14T19:52:33Z

Supersedes #2111, rebased on #2117 (tpm1_fixes).

This PR merges the m900 tower board port with the TPM1 fixes from PR #2117.

Board port (notgivenby's commits):

Board configs for m900 tower (maximized and hotp-maximized variants)
Coreboot config, linux config, ME blob handling
Review comments addressed: typos, blob names, board name includes 'tower'
CircleCI integration for both variants (requires seed:coreboot-25.09)
CircleCI x86_blobs step added for m900 ME download/deguard
Blob download script refactored to use shared blobs/lib.sh

TPM1 fixes from PR #2117 (included via rebase on tpm1_fixes):

Auth detection grep patterns now catch 'defend lock' and TPM2 hex codes
tpm1_reset: physical disable/enable cycle to clear defend lock, retry takeown
tpm1_counter_increment: bypass _tpm_auth_retry when caller passes -pwdc ''
check_tpm_counter / increment_tpm_counter: restore empty counter auth (SHA1 of "") per TCG spec
oem-factory-reset.sh: consistent empty auth for counter creation
Migration fallback for counters created by PR UX improvements: TPM reseal (HOTP/TOTP/DUK) adds integrity report; detects disk/tpm swap and guide user into action, add terminal colors and guidance! Reduced quiet noise #2068 era code
doc/tpm.md: updated with accurate auth patterns and defend lock documentation

@notgivenby so you can test artifacts.

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Pull request overview

This PR ports the Lenovo M900 Tower (Skylake/Kaby Lake LGA1151 mini-tower) to Heads with two board variants (maximized, hotp-maximized), plus targeted TPM1 reliability fixes in tpmr.sh so that auth-failure detection and tpm1_reset() recover from the TPM_DEFEND_LOCK_RUNNING state after multiple bad passphrases. Documentation in doc/tpm.md is expanded with TPM1 vs TPM2 error-stream conventions, auth grep patterns, and the defend-lock recovery flow.

Changes:

New EOL_m900_tower-{maximized,hotp-maximized} boards with shared coreboot/linux configs and an ME blob preparation pipeline (download → me_cleaner → deguard).
TPM1 auth grep patterns extended to include defend/0x98e/0x149; tpm1_reset() cycles physical presence on defend lock running after forceclear.
CircleCI: two new build jobs (depend on the existing EOL_t480-hotp-maximized 25.09 seed).

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
boards/EOL_m900_tower-maximized/EOL_m900_tower-maximized.config	New maximized board config (no HOTP).
boards/EOL_m900_tower-hotp-maximized/EOL_m900_tower-hotp-maximized.config	New hotp-maximized variant.
config/coreboot-m900-maximized.config	Coreboot 25.09 config for Lenovo M900.
config/linux-m900.config	Linux 6.1.8 kernel config for the board.
targets/m900_me_blobs.mk	Make rules tying the ME blob script into the board build.
blobs/m900/m900_download_clean_deguard_me.sh	Downloads ASRock BIOS, neuters/deguards ME 11.6.0.1126.
blobs/m900/README.md	Blob layout, sources and integrity notes.
blobs/m900/hashes.txt	SHA256 of ME/IFD/GBE blobs.
blobs/m900/.gitignore	Ignores generated `me.bin`/`m900_me.bin`.
initrd/bin/tpmr.sh	Adds defend-lock detection in auth-retry grep and `tpm1_reset()` recovery sequence.
doc/tpm.md	New sections on TPM1/TPM2 auth error patterns and defend-lock recovery.
.circleci/config.yml	Adds the two M900 board build jobs (depending on the 25.09 seed).

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

notgivenby · 2026-05-15T20:12:33Z

debug.log
measuring_trace.log

the fix did not help.

PR #2068 (tpm_reseal_ux-integrity_report-detect_disk_and_tpm_swap, merged at d3d8053) changed increment_tpm_counter from hardcoded -pwdc '' (empty counter auth) to -pwdc "${tpm_passphrase:-}" (owner passphrase from cache/prompt), but left check_tpm_counter using empty -pwdc when called from kexec-sign-config.sh without a $3 passphrase argument. This caused every counter increment to compute SHA1(owner_pass) while the counter was created with SHA1("") - persistent TPM_AUTH_FAIL. Per TCG TPM Main Spec Part 3, TPM_CreateCounter uses owner auth (-pwdo) but TPM_IncrementCounter uses the counter's own authData, not the owner password. The correct design for Heads' rollback counter is empty auth: rollback security comes from the signed /boot/kexec_rollback.txt and TPM sealing, not counter access control. The repeated auth failures (3 per boot x ~5 boots via the _tpm_auth_retry loop) triggered TPM 1.2 dictionary-attack lockout (TPM_DEFEND_LOCK_RUNNING), which persisted through forceclear on some implementations, causing tpm takeown to fail and TPM reset to abort - a cascade failure from the counter auth mismatch. Changes: - initrd/bin/tpmr.sh (_tpm_auth_retry, tpm2_counter_inc, tpm2_seal, tpm1_seal): add 'defend' and '0x98e|0x149' to auth detection grep patterns so defend lock and TPM2 RC codes are treated as retryable auth failures rather than fatal errors - initrd/bin/tpmr.sh (tpm1_reset): detect defend lock after takeown failure and cycle physical presence to clear the lock state before retrying; full AC power cycle remains the fallback if software presence is insufficient - initrd/bin/tpmr.sh (tpm1_counter_increment): detect -pwdc '' and call tpm directly, bypassing _tpm_auth_retry which injected the owner passphrase. Use || return to survive set -e on expected auth failure. - initrd/etc/functions.sh (check_tpm_counter): pass -pwdc '' instead of -pwdc "${tpm_passphrase:-}" so counters use SHA1("") per TCG spec. Document that $3 is intentionally ignored. - initrd/etc/functions.sh (increment_tpm_counter): try -pwdc '' first for TPM1. If that fails on a readable counter (created by PR #2068 era code), prompt for owner passphrase and retry as migration fallback with clear WARN explaining the one-time migration and TPM reset option. - initrd/etc/functions.sh (increment_tpm_counter): remove the TPM1-specific owner-passphrase prompt block added by PR #2068 - initrd/etc/functions.sh (increment_tpm_counter): DIE-path fallback counter_create: -pwdc '' for consistency - initrd/bin/oem-factory-reset.sh: counter_create -pwdc '' for consistency with the empty-auth design - doc/tpm.md: document TPM1 boot chain, tpmtotp tool selection, auth retry patterns, defend lock recovery, and physical presence Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

tlaurion · 2026-05-16T01:40:06Z

debug.log measuring_trace.log

the fix did not help.

went down the rabbit hole and found the regression and created fix pushed onto #2117 and rebased on top of it.

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

…900_tower board Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

- blobs/m900/README.md: fix blob filenames, spelling (paritally->partially, Unfourtunatly->Unfortunately, layot->layout) - blobs/m900/m900_download_clean_deguard_me.sh: fix Dell->ASRock comment - boards/EOL_m900_tower-*: fix m900_tiny->m900_tower, fix ME script path, add 'tower' to CONFIG_BOARD_NAME - targets/m900_me_blobs.mk: rewrite header with accurate instructions Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

m900 ME blob download/deguard script was not wired into the x86_blobs CI job. Add it after the xx80 steps, following the same pattern as other board families. Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

tlaurion · 2026-05-16T02:17:54Z

@notgivenby hopefully this works. Added m900 blobs download in circleci so it downloads it once and reuses cache if already there and checksums match, reworked the script to reuse lib added, and fixups for tpm1.

Keep me posted. Hopefully #2117 (we are based on it here) fixes your issue.

notgivenby · 2026-05-16T06:09:58Z

debug.log
measuring_trace.log

You invested really a lot of time into debugging...I do not want to misuse you and your time here. Please let me known if @tlaurion you think we need to stop the attempts to port let us say not most popular board for only few people. The issue still maybe releveant for other ports who knows. For future attemps, perhaps I need to select a desktop board from other vendor perhaps with tpm2?

tlaurion · 2026-05-16T16:54:59Z

debug.log measuring_trace.log

You invested really a lot of time into debugging...I do not want to misuse you and your time here. Please let me known if @tlaurion you think we need to stop the attempts to port let us say not most popular board for only few people. The issue still maybe releveant for other ports who knows. For future attemps, perhaps I need to select a desktop board from other vendor perhaps with tpm2?

@notgivenby this has nothing specific to m900, outside of the fact aht as opposed to tpm2, we do not configure the dictionary attack config (how many attempt per timeframe nor resolution period).

As said under #2117 , master contains a regression for how we do counter create and how we increment the counter.
Your platform has DA lockout, might be 24h before automatic resolution. i've worked a bit on it today but haven't finished ading code to troubleshot this properly. Maybe tomorrow, ost probably monday

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Comment thread blobs/m900/README.md Outdated

tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch 2 times, most recently from 78366db to a9cd1fc Compare May 14, 2026 20:13

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Comment thread blobs/m900/.gitignore Outdated

tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch from a9cd1fc to d8d7665 Compare May 14, 2026 20:23

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tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch 3 times, most recently from 863c9b7 to 6919d44 Compare May 14, 2026 20:52

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tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch from 6919d44 to 9d1e115 Compare May 16, 2026 01:39

tlaurion changed the title ~~m900 tower port + TPM1 auth/defend lock fixes~~ m900 tower port + TPM1 counter auth and defend lock fixes May 16, 2026

tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch 2 times, most recently from 31e8838 to 3e31d39 Compare May 16, 2026 01:50

notgivenby added 5 commits May 15, 2026 21:58

add the script to download, deguard and reduce the intel ME blob

89f4328

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add ifd and gbe blobs for the m900_tower board

81de6db

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add m900_tower board information including caveats

c51be50

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add hashes of the blobs and .gitignore file

2b9fcf2

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add the .gitignore file

622e19e

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

notgivenby and others added 8 commits May 15, 2026 21:58

add the board config for m900_tower hotp variant

bc319fc

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add the board config for m900_tower maximized variant

9e09266

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add the coreboot config for m900_tower board

d86d8a3

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add target mk file to download, deguard, and reduce the ME blob for m…

3044a57

…900_tower board Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add the linux config for the m900_tower board

088ed68

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

add m900 hotp and maximized into circle ci

77601e8

Signed-off-by: notgivenby <notgivenby@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

blobs/m900: refactor download script to use shared blobs/lib.sh

22ca620

Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch from 3e31d39 to 22ca620 Compare May 16, 2026 02:00

tlaurion assigned notgivenby May 16, 2026

circleci: add m900 blob download step in x86_blobs

3ef9c50

m900 ME blob download/deguard script was not wired into the x86_blobs CI job. Add it after the xx80 steps, following the same pattern as other board families. Signed-off-by: Thierry Laurion <insurgo@riseup.net>

tlaurion force-pushed the m900_with_tpm1_fixes branch from 8838b18 to 3ef9c50 Compare May 16, 2026 02:13

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