Saint PKfail, Who Signed With the Test Key

Patron of Secure Boot, platform keys, and those who leave in production what was only a test.

Life

In 2024 Binarly revealed PKfail (CVE-2024-8105): a great many computer models from various makers used, as the Secure Boot platform key, test keys supplied by the firmware makers and marked "untrusted, do not use in production." Whoever held the matching private key, which had leaked publicly, could sign malicious bootloaders accepted as trusted. The root of trust rested on a key a sign told you not to use.

Prayer

O Saint PKfail, who signs evil with the free-sample key, teach our firmware to use keys that are truly their own. Amen.

How to celebrate

Celebrated by updating firmware with unique, genuine platform keys and throwing away the test keys left behind by mistake.

A test key in production, a lock for pretend.