Ubuntu Manpage: tpm2_startauthsession(1) - Start a session with the TPM.

NAME

       tpm2_startauthsession(1) - Start a session with the TPM.

SYNOPSIS

       tpm2_startauthsession [OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION

tpm2_startauthsession(1) - Starts a session with the TPM. The default is to start a trial
session unless the -a option is specified. Saves the policy session data to a file. This
file can then be used in subsequent tools that can use a policy file for authorization or
policy events.

This will not work with resource managers (RMs) outside of tpm2-abrmd
(https://github.com/tpm2-software/tpm2-abrmd), as most RMs will flush session handles when
a client disconnects from the IPC channel. However, when using a RM without the session
gapping feature, one can use the command TCTI to keep the connection open.

The first step is to create a socket listener that uses tpm2_send:

mknod "$HOME/backpipe" p
while [ 1 ]; do tpm2_send 0<"$HOME/backpipe" | nc -lU "$HOME/sock" 1>"$HOME/backpipe"; done;

The next step is to use the command TCTI and netcat (nc) to send data to the socket.

tpm2_startauthsession --tcti="cmd:nc -q 0 -U $HOME/sock" <options>

When finishing ensure to kill the listener. For commands executed with the command tcti
against the listener, one will need to manage transient handles. The simplest way is to
add a flush after each command: tpm2_flushcontext --tcti="cmd:nc -q 0 -U $HOME/sock" -t

Note: This example uses UNIX sockets, since the socket is controlled with Linux access
controls. Using a port is not recommended as it’s either open to any user on the system
(localhost) or bound to a network card and exposed to the network.

This will work with direct TPM access, but note that internally this calls a ContextSave
and a ContextLoad on the session handle, thus the session cannot be saved/loaded again.

OPTIONS

• --policy-session:

Start a policy session of type TPM_SE_POLICY. Default without this option is
TPM_SE_TRIAL.

NOTE: A trial session is used when building a policy and a policy session is used when
authenticating with a policy.

• --audit-session:

Start an HMAC session to be used as an audit session. Default without this option is
TPM2_SE_TRIAL.

• --hmac-session:

Start an HMAC session of type TPM_SE_HMAC. Default without this option is
TPM2_SE_TRIAL.

• -g, --hash-algorithm=ALGORITHM:

The hash algorithm used in computation of the policy digest.

• -G, --key-algorithm=ALGORITHM:

The symmetric algorithm used in parameter encryption/decryption.

• -c, --key-context=OBJECT:

Set the tpmkey and bind objects to be the same. Session parameter encryption is turned
on. Session parameter decryption is turned on. Parameter encryption/decryption
symmetric-key set to AES-CFB.

• -S, --session=FILE:

The name of the policy session file, required.

• --bind-context=FILE:

Set the bind object. Session parameter encryption is off. Use tpm2_sessionconfig to
turn on. Session parameter decryption is off. Use tpm2_sessionconfig to turn on.
Parameter encryption/decryption symmetric-key set to AES-CFB.

• --bind-auth=AUTH:

Set the authorization value for the bind object.

• --tpmkey-context=FILE:

Set the tpmkey object. Session parameter encryption is off. Use tpm2_sessionconfig to
turn on. Session parameter decryption is off. Use tpm2_sessionconfig to turn on.
Parameter encryption/decryption symmetric-key set to AES-CFB.

• -n, --name=FILE

A name file as output from a tool like tpm2_readpublic(1) -n option. The name file can
be used to verify a persistent handle input for the --tpmkey-context, -c, and --key-
context options. Verification that the object referenced by a peristent handle, e.g
0x81000000, is the key expected prevents attackers from performing a man-in-the-middle
attack on session traffic.

References

Context Object Format

       The type of a context object, whether it is a handle or file name, is determined according
       to the following logic in-order:

       • If  the  argument  is  a  file path, then the file is loaded as a restored TPM transient
         object.

       • If the argument is a prefix match on one of:

         • owner: the owner hierarchy

         • platform: the platform hierarchy

         • endorsement: the endorsement hierarchy

         • lockout: the lockout control persistent object

       • If the argument argument can be loaded as a  number  it  will  be  treat  as  a  handle,
         e.g. 0x81010013 and used directly._OBJECT_.

Authorization Formatting

Authorization for use of an object in TPM2.0 can come in 3 different forms: 1. Password
2. HMAC 3. Sessions

NOTE: “Authorizations default to the EMPTY PASSWORD when not specified”.

Passwords
Passwords are interpreted in the following forms below using prefix identifiers.

Note: By default passwords are assumed to be in the string form when they do not have a
prefix.

String
A string password, specified by prefix “str:” or it’s absence (raw string without prefix)
is not interpreted, and is directly used for authorization.

Examples
foobar
str:foobar

Hex-string
A hex-string password, specified by prefix “hex:” is converted from a hexidecimal form
into a byte array form, thus allowing passwords with non-printable and/or terminal un-
friendly characters.

Example
hex:1122334455667788

File
A file based password, specified be prefix “file:” should be the path of a file containing
the password to be read by the tool or a “-” to use stdin. Storing passwords in files
prevents information leakage, passwords passed as options can be read from the process
list or common shell history features.

Examples
# to use stdin and be prompted
file:-

# to use a file from a path
file:path/to/password/file

# to echo a password via stdin:
echo foobar | tpm2_tool -p file:-

# to use a bash here-string via stdin:

tpm2_tool -p file:- <<< foobar

Sessions
When using a policy session to authorize the use of an object, prefix the option argument
with the session keyword. Then indicate a path to a session file that was created with
tpm2_startauthsession(1). Optionally, if the session requires an auth value to be sent
with the session handle (eg policy password), then append a + and a string as described in
the Passwords section.

Examples
To use a session context file called session.ctx.

session:session.ctx

To use a session context file called session.ctx AND send the authvalue mypassword.

session:session.ctx+mypassword

To use a session context file called session.ctx AND send the HEX authvalue 0x11223344.

session:session.ctx+hex:11223344

PCR Authorizations
You can satisfy a PCR policy using the “pcr:” prefix and the PCR minilanguage. The PCR
minilanguage is as follows: <pcr-spec>=<raw-pcr-file>

The PCR spec is documented in in the section “PCR bank specifiers”.

The raw-pcr-file is an optional argument that contains the output of the raw PCR contents
as returned by tpm2_pcrread(1).

PCR bank specifiers

Examples
To satisfy a PCR policy of sha256 on banks 0, 1, 2 and 3 use a specifier of:

pcr:sha256:0,1,2,3

specifying AUTH.

COMMON OPTIONS

This collection of options are common to many programs and provide information that many
users may expect.

• -h, --help=[man|no-man]: Display the tools manpage. By default, it attempts to invoke
the manpager for the tool, however, on failure will output a short tool summary. This
is the same behavior if the “man” option argument is specified, however if explicit
“man” is requested, the tool will provide errors from man on stderr. If the “no-man”
option if specified, or the manpager fails, the short options will be output to stdout.

To successfully use the manpages feature requires the manpages to be installed or on
MANPATH, See man(1) for more details.

• -v, --version: Display version information for this tool, supported tctis and exit.

• -V, --verbose: Increase the information that the tool prints to the console during its
execution. When using this option the file and line number are printed.

• -Q, --quiet: Silence normal tool output to stdout.

• -Z, --enable-errata: Enable the application of errata fixups. Useful if an errata fixup
needs to be applied to commands sent to the TPM. Defining the environment
TPM2TOOLS_ENABLE_ERRATA is equivalent.

• -R, --autoflush: Enable autoflush for transient objects created by the command. If a
parent object is loaded from a context file also the transient parent object will be
flushed. Autoflush can also be activated if the environment variable
TPM2TOOLS_AUTOFLUSH is is set to yes or true. information many users may expect.

TCTI Configuration

The TCTI or “Transmission Interface” is the communication mechanism with the TPM. TCTIs
can be changed for communication with TPMs across different mediums.

To control the TCTI, the tools respect:

1. The command line option -T or --tcti

2. The environment variable: TPM2TOOLS_TCTI.

Note: The command line option always overrides the environment variable.

The current known TCTIs are:

• tabrmd - The resource manager, called tabrmd
(https://github.com/tpm2-software/tpm2-abrmd). Note that tabrmd and abrmd as a tcti
name are synonymous.

• mssim - Typically used for communicating to the TPM software simulator.

• device - Used when talking directly to a TPM device file.

• none - Do not initalize a connection with the TPM. Some tools allow for off-tpm options
and thus support not using a TCTI. Tools that do not support it will error when
attempted to be used without a TCTI connection. Does not support ANY options and MUST
BE presented as the exact text of “none”.

The arguments to either the command line option or the environment variable are in the
form:

<tcti-name>:<tcti-option-config>

Specifying an empty string for either the <tcti-name> or <tcti-option-config> results in
the default being used for that portion respectively.

TCTI Defaults
When a TCTI is not specified, the default TCTI is searched for using dlopen(3) semantics.
The tools will search for tabrmd, device and mssim TCTIs IN THAT ORDER and USE THE FIRST
ONE FOUND. You can query what TCTI will be chosen as the default by using the -v option
to print the version information. The “default-tcti” key-value pair will indicate which
of the aforementioned TCTIs is the default.

Custom TCTIs
Any TCTI that implements the dynamic TCTI interface can be loaded. The tools internally
use dlopen(3), and the raw tcti-name value is used for the lookup. Thus, this could be a
path to the shared library, or a library name as understood by dlopen(3) semantics.

TCTI OPTIONS

This collection of options are used to configure the various known TCTI modules available:

• device: For the device TCTI, the TPM character device file for use by the device TCTI
can be specified. The default is /dev/tpm0.

Example: -T device:/dev/tpm0 or export TPM2TOOLS_TCTI=“device:/dev/tpm0”

• mssim: For the mssim TCTI, the domain name or IP address and port number used by the
simulator can be specified. The default are 127.0.0.1 and 2321.

Example: -T mssim:host=localhost,port=2321 or export
TPM2TOOLS_TCTI=“mssim:host=localhost,port=2321”

• abrmd: For the abrmd TCTI, the configuration string format is a series of simple key
value pairs separated by a `,' character. Each key and value string are separated by a
`=' character.

• TCTI abrmd supports two keys:

1. `bus_name' : The name of the tabrmd service on the bus (a string).

2. `bus_type' : The type of the dbus instance (a string) limited to `session' and
`system'.

Specify the tabrmd tcti name and a config string of bus_name=com.example.FooBar:

\--tcti=tabrmd:bus_name=com.example.FooBar

Specify the default (abrmd) tcti and a config string of bus_type=session:

\--tcti:bus_type=session

NOTE: abrmd and tabrmd are synonymous. the various known TCTI modules. # EXAMPLES

Start a trial session and save the session data to a file
tpm2_startauthsession -S mysession.ctx

Start a policy session and save the session data to a file
tpm2_startauthsession --policy-session -S mysession.ctx

Start an encrypted and bound policy session and save the session data to a file
tpm2_createprimary -c primary.ctx
tpm2_startauthsession --policy-session -c primary.ctx -S mysession.ctx

Returns

       Tools can return any of the following codes:

       • 0 - Success.

       • 1 - General non-specific error.

       • 2 - Options handling error.

       • 3 - Authentication error.

       • 4 - TCTI related error.

       • 5 - Non supported scheme.  Applicable to tpm2_testparams.

BUGS

       Github Issues (https://github.com/tpm2-software/tpm2-tools/issues)

HELP

       See the Mailing List (https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/tpm2)