Multiple and Reproducible Fault Models on Micro-controller using Electromagnetic Fault Injection

In this paper, we present a method to obtain multiple and reproducible fault models on a 32-bit Micro-controller (MCU) using Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EMFI). By using different Pulse Width (PW), this method allows to obtain either a replay or skip of instructions fault model with a fault rate up to 100%. Specifically, a replay of an instruction block is obtained with the PW of 1.5 nano second (ns), whereas a skip of an instruction block is observed with the PW of 7.0 ns. With these types of fault model, an adversary may be able to retrieve secret information, as cryptographic key, by using efficient attacks. The study is carried out by enabling or disabling the cache. The only difference is that the resulting faulty block is either 32 bits when the cache is disabled or 64 bits when the cache is enabled. The impact of the Pulse Amplitude (PA) has been analyzed, and the fault model has been characterized at bit level. These results demonstrate the efficiency and the flexibility of the EMFI which should be considered for designing robust MCU. © 2021 IEEE.