Enhancing Microcontroller Security Through Volatile Memory-Resident Encrypted Code

This paper presents a novel approach to enhancing microcontroller security by storing code in an encrypted format within flash memory and executing it from volatile memory. This method addresses critical vulnerabilities associated with executing code directly from non-volatile flash memory, such as susceptibility to reverse engineering and bit-level manipulation attacks. By decrypting sensitive code only during execution and performing cyclic redundancy checks to verify integrity before execution, the proposed approach significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access and tampering. Additionally, the implementation of address space layout randomization during execution further enhances security by dynamically allocating memory for decrypted code. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method in mitigating common security threats in embedded systems, with potential applications in automotive electronics, IoT devices, and other critical infrastructures. Future work may explore the integration of various encryption techniques and advanced security measures to further strengthen microcontroller security.