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Threat Model: clarify stance on timing attacks
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Signed-off-by: Janos Follath <[email protected]>
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yanesca committed Mar 15, 2023
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#### Timing attacks

The attacker is able to observe the timing of instructions executed by Mbed
TLS.(See for example the [Flush+Reload
paper](https://eprint.iacr.org/2013/448.pdf).)
The attacker is able to observe the timing of instructions executed by Mbed TLS
by leveraging shared hardware that both Mbed TLS and the attacker have access
to. Typical attack vectors include cache timings, memory bus contention and
branch prediction.

Mbed TLS provides limited protection against timing attacks. The cost of
protecting against timing attacks widely varies depending on the granularity of
the measurements and the noise present. Therefore the protection in Mbed TLS is
limited. We are only aiming to provide protection against **publicly
documented** attacks.
documented attack techniques**.

As attacks keep improving, so does Mbed TLS's protection. Mbed TLS is moving
towards a model of fully timing-invariant code, but has not reached this point
yet.

**Remark:** Timing information can be observed over the network or through
physical side channels as well. Remote and physical timing attacks are covered
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