US 12,474,846 B2
Secure hardware access in a heterogeneous computing platform
Ibrahim Sayyed, Georgetown, TX (US); Amit K. Tiwari, Austin, TX (US); and Adolfo S. Montero, Pflugerville, TX (US)
Assigned to Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed by Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed on Apr. 4, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/626,379.
Prior Publication US 2025/0315176 A1, Oct. 9, 2025
Int. Cl. G06F 3/06 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/0632 (2013.01) [G06F 3/0604 (2013.01); G06F 3/0673 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:
an NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory) storage device storing a plurality of UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) variables; and
one or more processors coupled to the NVRAM, wherein the NVRAM comprises program instructions that, upon execution by the processors, cause the IHS to:
initiate a UEFI boot sequence;
detect a boot sequence notification indicating conditions for booting an operating system of the IHS have been met;
lock further access to the NVRAM storing UEFI variables;
receive a request for access to a UEFI variable stored in the NVRAM;
generate a challenge to an application issuing the request for access to the UEFI variable stored in the NVRAM, wherein the challenge is generated based on a cryptographic key associated with the requesting application in a listing of authorized applications; and
grant the request for access to a UEFI variable based on the listing of authorized applications.