What’s the Difference Between Conventional Memory Protection and CHERI? (Download)

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Most semiconductor companies and OEMs take precautions around processor-based systems, which includes secure boot and encrypting communications of important data. However, relatively little attention has been given to memory safety vulnerabilities like buffer overflows or over-reads when designing systems on chip (SoCs). 

Such weaknesses have been exploited time and time again, usually at great cost for users and suppliers of systems. For decades, industry has created billions of lines of unsafe C & C++ code. However, addressing the resulting memory safety risks has been discussed little outside software groups.