mTSS - A Simplified Trusted Software Stack

The TCG Software Stack (TSS) specifies the software layer for application developers to use functions provided by a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). However, the current, TSS interface is highly complex, winch makes its usage very difficult and error-prone, and the high complexity makes it unsuitable for embedded devices or security kernels We present a simplified TSS design and implementation (mu TSS) providing a lightweight and intuitive programming interface for developers based on the TPM main specification The major principles of the lass design are a reduced complexity, obtaining type safety, object encapsulation, and a simple error handling These principles ensure that the resulting mu TSS is maintainable and easy to use. Moreover, the modular architecture of the mu TSS allows using only a subset of the provided functionality as it is required, e.g for embedded systems, mobile devices, or in the context of a security kernel Tins paper discusses experiences with the mu TSS, based on several projects such as the TCG TPM compliance test suite and a Mobile Trusted Module (MTM) implementation