Add AArch64 UEFI support (NVIDIA Jetson Orin) by dgarske · Pull Request #818 · wolfSSL/wolfBoot

dgarske · 2026-07-07T17:05:56Z

Summary

Adds a generic AArch64 UEFI-application target, the direct sibling of the existing x86_64_efi target. wolfBoot builds as wolfboot.efi (a PE/COFF EFI application), is launched by platform UEFI firmware, verifies the next-stage image with wolfCrypt, and boots it through UEFI LoadImage/StartImage. It uses only UEFI Boot Services (no SoC-specific registers), so a single binary runs on any AArch64 UEFI platform. Validated end-to-end on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano (Tegra234), booting a signed L4T kernel to an Ubuntu 22.04 login prompt.

Features

AArch64 UEFI verified boot: reads the kernel image from the EFI Simple File System, verifies it with wolfCrypt (validated with ED25519/SHA256; the standard SIGN/HASH options apply), and hands off via LoadImage/StartImage. A/B image selection uses the RAM updater.
Portable, board-agnostic binary: relies only on UEFI Boot Services, so one wolfboot.efi runs on any AArch64 UEFI platform rather than being tied to a board.
UEFI Secure Boot enrollment: tools/scripts/sign-efi-secureboot.sh generates PK/KEK/db keys, sbsigns wolfboot.efi, and emits the .auth variable updates so the firmware verifies wolfBoot, making the chain continuous (firmware -> wolfboot.efi -> kernel). Document-only NVIDIA PKC/SBK fuse-provisioning steps included (no fuses burned).
Measured boot into the platform TPM: measures the verified kernel into a PCR through EFI_TCG2_PROTOCOL (HashLogExtendEvent), extending both the SHA-256 and SHA-384 banks with no TPM driver of its own. Enabled with MEASURED_BOOT_TCG2=1; best-effort on platforms without a firmware TPM.
FIPS-ready configuration: documents the approved selection (SIGN=ECC384 HASH=SHA384 SPMATH=1) vs. the default ED25519/SHA256, with docs/FIPS.md scoping what a validated build additionally requires.
gnu-efi build integration: pei-aarch64-little PE output; tools/scripts/build-gnu-efi-aarch64.sh builds the runtime from a pinned gnu-efi tag (4.0.4) for reproducibility.
Hardware-free iteration: tools/scripts/aarch64-efi-qemu.sh runs wolfboot.efi under QEMU + AAVMF, with a --gdb mode for source-level debugging.
Continuous integration: a compile-only aarch64_efi_test job builds the gnu-efi runtime and wolfboot.efi on every push, mirroring the x86_64_efi job.
Tegra234 bare-metal skeleton (groundwork): UART + generic-timer HAL and a compile-only tegra234_test CI job, as a starting point for the future vendor-firmware-replacement path (not a validated boot path).

Notable fix

For a UEFI-application target the keystore must not be placed in the .keystore linker section (the gnu-efi PE does not load it, so PubKeys reads back as zeros). keygen.c emits the keystore as plain const data for aarch64_efi, matching x86_64_efi.

Build and run

./tools/scripts/build-gnu-efi-aarch64.sh          # one-time: AArch64 gnu-efi
cp config/examples/aarch64_efi.config .config
make                                              # -> wolfboot.efi
./tools/scripts/aarch64-efi-qemu.sh               # optional: run in QEMU

See docs/Targets.md (NVIDIA Jetson Orin section) for the full validated L4T recipe and Secure Boot enrollment steps.

Validation

QEMU (qemu-system-aarch64 + AAVMF): launch -> read kernel.img -> ED25519 verify PASS -> LoadImage/StartImage -> the real L4T kernel EFI stub runs.
Jetson Orin Nano: Verifying signature...done -> boots the signed L4T kernel -> mounts the SD rootfs -> Ubuntu 22.04.5 login prompt.
Build coverage: aarch64_efi (default and FIPS ECC384/SHA384) and tegra234 build clean; x86_64_efi and raspi3 unregressed. Secure Boot tool round-trips (sign -> sbverify PASS; unsigned -> rejected).

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request adds a new aarch64_efi target so wolfBoot can run as an AArch64 UEFI application (validated on NVIDIA Jetson Orin), loading/verifying kernel.img/update.img from the ESP and booting via UEFI LoadImage/StartImage.

Changes:

Add a new AArch64 UEFI HAL (hal/aarch64_efi.c) plus boot glue (src/boot_aarch64_efi.c) and linker-script stub.
Extend the build system to support an AArch64 PE/COFF wolfboot.efi output and a new example config.
Add helper scripts and documentation for building gnu-efi for AArch64 and running under QEMU/Jetson deployment.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
tools/scripts/build-gnu-efi-aarch64.sh	Helper to clone/build/install gnu-efi (AArch64) into the repo tree
tools/scripts/aarch64-efi-qemu.sh	Convenience runner for `wolfboot.efi` under QEMU + AAVMF
tools/keytools/keygen.c	Extends keystore section handling for the new UEFI target macro
src/boot_aarch64_efi.c	Adds UEFI-target `do_boot()` glue for AArch64
Makefile	Makes the `wolfboot.efi` objcopy output format configurable per target
hal/aarch64_efi.ld	Empty placeholder linker script (gnu-efi script used instead)
hal/aarch64_efi.c	New AArch64 UEFI HAL: ESP file loading, verification, LoadImage/StartImage handoff
docs/Targets.md	Adds `aarch64_efi` target documentation (Jetson Orin + QEMU workflow)
config/examples/aarch64_efi.config	Example configuration for `aarch64_efi`
arch.mk	Adds `aarch64_efi` target build flags, gnu-efi paths, and linking rules
.gitignore	Ignores gnu-efi build artifacts and staging dirs for the new target

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Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 12 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 11 comments.

AArch64 UEFI-application target (sibling of x86_64_efi): builds wolfboot.efi, verifies the next-stage image with wolfCrypt, and boots via UEFI LoadImage/StartImage. Validated on the Jetson Orin Nano through to the Ubuntu login. Includes gnu-efi build and QEMU scripts, CI, a UEFI Secure Boot signing tool (sign-efi-secureboot.sh) with enrollment/fuse docs, and FIPS-approved algorithm guidance (docs/FIPS.md).

UART + ARMv8 generic timer HAL on the shared AArch64 startup; builds wolfboot.bin (RAM boot, like raspi3). Groundwork for the Path B firmware-replacement direction; adds a compile-only CI job.

Adds MEASURED_BOOT_TCG2: wolfBoot extends the verified kernel into the platform firmware TPM (PCR MEASURED_PCR_A) via EFI_TCG2_PROTOCOL HashLogExtendEvent before handoff, no wolfTPM transport. Validated on the NVIDIA Orin Nano fTPM (TPM present, SHA-256+SHA-384 banks, measured into PCR 9).

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 22 out of 23 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

+    mem_path_device->Header.Type = EFI_DEVICE_PATH_PROTOCOL_HW_TYPE;
+    mem_path_device->Header.SubType = EFI_DEVICE_PATH_PROTOCOL_MEM_SUBTYPE;
+    mem_path_device->MemoryType = EfiLoaderData;
+    mem_path_device->StartingAddress = (EFI_PHYSICAL_ADDRESS)boot_addr;
+    mem_path_device->EndingAddress = (EFI_PHYSICAL_ADDRESS)((uint8_t*)boot_addr+*size);
+    SetDevicePathNodeLength(&mem_path_device->Header,
+                            sizeof(MEMMAP_DEVICE_PATH));


+    wolfBoot_printf("Opening file: %s, size: %u\n", filename, *sz);
+    status = uefi_call_wrapper(BS->AllocatePages,
+                          4,
+                          AllocateAnyPages,
+                          EfiLoaderData,
+                          (*sz/PAGE_SIZE) + 1, _addr);
+    if (status != EFI_SUCCESS) {
+        wolfBoot_printf("can't get memory at specified address %d\n", status);
+        uefi_call_wrapper(file->Close, 1, file);
+        return status;
+    }


+    *sz = (uint32_t)readsz;
+    uefi_call_wrapper(file->Close, 1, file); /* done with the file */
+    if (status != EFI_SUCCESS) {
+        wolfBoot_printf("can't read kernel image %d\n", status);


+    if (status != EFI_SUCCESS) {
+        wolfBoot_printf("can't load kernel image from memory\n");
+        panic();
+    }


+    if (status != EFI_SUCCESS) {
+        wolfBoot_printf("can't load kernel image from memory\n");
+        panic();
+    }


+extern void RAMFUNCTION aarch64_efi_do_boot(uint32_t *boot_addr);
+
+void RAMFUNCTION do_boot(const uint32_t *app_offset)
+{
+    aarch64_efi_do_boot((uint32_t *)app_offset);
+}


+set -e
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../.." && pwd)"
+
+KEYDIR="${KEYDIR:-$ROOT/tools/efi-secureboot-keys}"


+  tegra234_test:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/test-build.yml
+    with:
+      arch: aarch64
+      # Tegra234 bare-metal skeleton: build the bootloader only (RAM boot,
+      # no factory.bin), mirroring raspi3.
+      config-file: ./config/examples/tegra234.config
+      make-args: wolfboot.bin CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-


dgarske self-assigned this Jul 7, 2026

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 7, 2026 17:05

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of dgarske July 7, 2026 17:07 View session

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Comment thread hal/aarch64_efi.c

Comment thread src/boot_aarch64_efi.c Outdated

Comment thread hal/aarch64_efi.c Outdated

Comment thread hal/aarch64_efi.c

Comment thread tools/scripts/build-gnu-efi-aarch64.sh Outdated

Comment thread arch.mk

dgarske force-pushed the aarch64_efi branch from 4843214 to f13a354 Compare July 8, 2026 00:01

dgarske requested a review from Copilot July 8, 2026 00:05

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Copilot started reviewing on behalf of dgarske July 8, 2026 00:29 View session

dgarske force-pushed the aarch64_efi branch from f13a354 to 308bf22 Compare July 9, 2026 18:42

dgarske added 2 commits July 10, 2026 14:25

tegra234: add bare-metal skeleton target

1963856

UART + ARMv8 generic timer HAL on the shared AArch64 startup; builds wolfboot.bin (RAM boot, like raspi3). Groundwork for the Path B firmware-replacement direction; adds a compile-only CI job.

dgarske force-pushed the aarch64_efi branch from 308bf22 to 1963856 Compare July 11, 2026 00:03

dgarske requested a review from Copilot July 11, 2026 00:29

dgarske marked this pull request as ready for review July 11, 2026 00:39

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Copilot started reviewing on behalf of dgarske July 11, 2026 00:49 View session

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Add AArch64 UEFI support (NVIDIA Jetson Orin)#818

Add AArch64 UEFI support (NVIDIA Jetson Orin)#818
dgarske wants to merge 3 commits into
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dgarske:aarch64_efi

dgarske commented Jul 7, 2026 •

edited

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dgarske commented Jul 7, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Summary

Features

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Build and run

Validation

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dgarske commented Jul 7, 2026 •

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