A technique for reverse engineering BIOS/UEFI firmware in order to identify backdoors

This work is devoted to the technique of reverse engineering BIOS/UEFI firmware in order to detect software bookmarks - hidden components designed for malicious activity or circumvention of protective mechanisms. The paper discusses the main aspects of the methodology, including the choice of tools for analyzing firmware, techniques for extracting and analyzing code, as well as methods for detecting and identifying potentially dangerous components. Special attention is paid to the static and dynamic analysis of firmware, as well as to the study of protection methods used to complicate reverse engineering. The paper presents the results of research on real firmware samples in order to identify embedded software bookmarks. The work is useful for information security specialists, vulnerability researchers and developers of secure systems, helping to expand the understanding of threats associated with the use of software bookmarks in BIOS/UEFI, and to develop effective methods for their detection and prevention.