Nvidia patents hardware method to keep encryption keys hidden from software
Nvidia describes a system where a secure hardware component generates and manages encryption keys without exposing them to the main software running on the device. It uses a random number to create new, temporary keys for each communication session, ensuring that sensitive data stays protected even if the software is compromised.
In the filing’s own words
Approaches in accordance with various illustrative embodiments provide for the encryption of communications going into and out of a device, such as a chip or proprietary bus. The encryption can occur in a central Root-of-Trust (RoT), which can include agents for individual communication protocols to generate session keys used to encrypt communications for individual sessions, and the data can be sent to a crypto engine for the respective communication protocol. A key tunnel unit can be used to receive a wrapped session key over the public bus and then unwrap the key in hardware, then able to then transmit the unwrapped session key to the corresponding crypto engine without exposing the session key to software executing on the device outside the RoT. A nonce can be used with a current derivation key, of a set of ephemeral keys, to generate a new set of ephemeral keys to be used to perform various cryptographic operations, allowing for secure rotation of wrapping keys, as well as other keys such as derivation and message keys.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system, comprising: one or more processing units to generate, for each of a sequence of key rotations, a new set of ephemeral keys using a randomly-generated nonce and a current derivation key of a previously-derived set of ephemeral keys, the randomly-generated nonce being transmitted from a software agent executing on a secure processor in a computing device to a secure key unwrap engine implemented in hardware of the computing device, the software agent and the secure key unwrap engine both having a copy of the previously-derived set of ephemeral keys to use to generate the new set of ephemeral keys.
Facts
- Company
- Nvidia (Nvidia Corporation)
- Official title
- Secure key delivery
- Patent number
- US12763942B2
- Application number
- 19050538
- Filed
- Feb 11, 2025
- Granted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H04L 9/0869 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/085 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/088 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/0891 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/0894 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/3247 Electricity & electronicsMore from Nvidia in Security & privacy
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.