Driver signing whiteboarding

Jennifer Stepler spent some time whiteboarding at the MVP summit about signing. She was explaining that there are two different kinds of signing in the Windows world: Device Installer signing and Code Security Signing. Here are her notes:

Whiteboard 2

In search-engine-findable text:

  • DMI [device management & installation] -> .cat file
  • Install Time
  • 32 & 64-bit
  • Unsigned Driver pop-up
    • Unsigned
    • Signed by untrusted cert
  • Signed-by pop-up - signed by trusted cert
  • Just [silently] install
    • Built in Windows build lab
    • WHQL logo signature
    • Trusted cert from trusted publisher

Example of trusted cert path: MS root -> Verisign -> ATI

Whiteboard 1
Kernel Mode Security Signing

  • 64-bit
  • Untrusted binary will not load
  • Signed with cert that roots to MS root authority
  • MS signs:
    • Windows build lab
    • WHQL
    • MS products
  • Cross-sign with trusted cert & MS cross-cert
  • CAT file (signed & loaded in CatDB) or the binaries

These notes resulted from about an hour of discussion, so they’re missing a lot of detail.

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