Stored Data Integrity

Beginning with Luna HSM Firmware 7.7.0, a new eIDAS-supporting feature called SDI, Stored Data Integrity, has been added that checks the integrity of the stored data. The HSM firmware will halt if it detects that objects have been corrupted. An hsmrecover function has been introduced, as part of the hsm factoryReset command to clear the storage and recover the HSM from the halt state without requiring RMA of the appliance.

If the HSM firmware halts because data in the volatile memory is corrupted, restarting the HSM using lunash:>hsm restart or rebooting the appliance (sysconf appliance reboot) should recover the HSM without losing data in permanent storage.

If the HSM firmware halts because data in the permanent flash storage is corrupted, the HSM is recovered by using the newly enhanced hsm factoryReset command which deletes all the partitions, zeroizes all the objects, and resets the policies.

Since hsm factoryReset is destructive, it is important to keep a regular backup of HSM objects in case the HSM ever goes into a state that requires factory reset.

Running the hsm factoryReset command, while the HSM is in normal working state, has the same behavior as before Luna HSM Firmware 7.7.0.

Running the hsm factoryReset command, while the HSM is in a halt state (where the normal "factoryReset" fails), invokes the recovery process, which takes several minutes (6+ minutes) to complete. It is important to wait for the hsm factoryReset command to complete without interruption.

For an example of the output, see hsm factoryReset. Also see Comparison of Destruction/Denial Actions.