CHERI Backers Form Alliance to Promote Memory Safety Chip

Developers of a computer hardware project for stopping memory-based cyberattacks will soon release standards in a bid to overcome commercial hurdles to its adoption.

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Designed by the researchers at the University of Cambridge with backing from the U.K. and U.S. governments, Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions – CHERI for short – gives “fine-grained memory protection and scalable software compartmentalization.”

Earlier this month, the University of Cambridge – along with hardware security vendor Capabilities Limited, chipmaker Codasip, the FreeBSD Foundation, lowRISC and SCI Semiconductor – announced the formation of the CHERI Alliance to promote the technology.

“Our participation in the CHERI Alliance aligns perfectly with our mission to enhance system security and reliability and contribute to the growth of this vital technology,” said Deb Goodkin, executive director of FreeBSD Foundation.

The creation of the alliance comes after John Goodacre, director of the U.K. government’s Digital Security by Design initiative, said adopting the technology is a challenge, largely due to the cost of porting operating systems to the new architecture (see: UK Official Touts CHERI for Memory-Safe Computing).

The group of companies will be developing standardization and compliance guidance on CHERI to assist with its deployment.

CHERI seeks to prevent memory security vulnerabilities, which account for roughly 7 in 10 common vulnerabilities and exposures.

“What the alliance is doing is coordinating the businesses and adopters as a way of delivering value across the market,” said Goodacre.

One company that’s not a member of the alliance is Arm, the British semiconductor manufacturer that in 2022 printed hundreds of demonstration motherboards using the CHERI architecture.

“Arm has chosen not to participate in the CHERI Alliance at this time,” a company spokesperson said, adding that the company will work with industry partners to incorporate CHERI into Arms products if the customers demand it.