Firmware, EFI, and NVRAM findings

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The source crosswalk maps every ID to a retained audit document and distinguishes an explicit ID mention from section context. Each record retains the original audit ledger wording and its explicit limit. Raw disassembly, copies of Apple binaries, and host-specific artifacts are intentionally absent. A bounded finding describes only the examined path or artifact.

FW-001 — Three restore digest differences resolve by type-tag substitution

Status: bounded
Retained source: REPORT.md:126 (relevant source section; ID absent from narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-catalog

Evidence: Restore firmware comparison

Observation: Three restore digest differences resolve by type-tag substitution

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Device-side enforcement and full firmware analysis remain incomplete

Follow-up: Device-side enforcement and full firmware analysis remain incomplete

FW-002 — FTAB and DP855 declared digests reproduced from internal measured regions

Status: confirmed
Retained source: STAGE3_FIRMWARE.md:109 (relevant source section; ID absent from narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-catalog

Evidence: Stage 3 firmware report and digest reconstruction records

Observation: FTAB and DP855 declared digests reproduced from internal measured regions

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: DP855 region layout inferred for this artifact; device verifier not traced

Follow-up: DP855 region layout inferred for this artifact; device verifier not traced

FW-003 — All 36 UARP digest lists and 12 manifest board selections reproduced

Status: confirmed
Retained source: STAGE3_FIRMWARE.md:117 (relevant source section; ID absent from narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-catalog

Evidence: 126 revision-rule measurements and board selection ledger

Observation: All 36 UARP digest lists and 12 manifest board selections reproduced

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No controller session or installed revision observed

Follow-up: No controller session or installed revision observed

FW-004 — Nine compressed PCI EFI payloads decode into bounded x86-64 PE drivers without certificate tables

Status: confirmed
Retained source: STAGE3_FIRMWARE.md:192 (relevant source section; ID absent from narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-catalog

Evidence: Decompression size/hash/PE checks and saved disassembly

Observation: Nine compressed PCI EFI payloads decode into bounded x86-64 PE drivers without certificate tables

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Outer ROM authentication and historical loading are separate

Follow-up: Outer ROM authentication and historical loading are separate

FW-005 — Product.efi wrapper dispatch depends on runtime-variable decryption material

Status: bounded
Retained source: STAGE3_FIRMWARE.md:180 (relevant source section; ID absent from narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-catalog

Evidence: Static diagnostic loader trace and wrapper length fields

Observation: Product.efi wrapper dispatch depends on runtime-variable decryption material

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No runtime material collected; plaintext and trailer remain unverified

Follow-up: No runtime material collected; plaintext and trailer remain unverified

FW-006 — PFX UARP and nested vendor configuration length-accounted with matching header/body CRCs

Status: bounded
Retained source: publication/README.md:1223 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-personalization

Evidence: All outer/nested byte regions; pinned vendor CRC; archive/TLV decoding; encoding checks

Observation: PFX UARP and nested vendor configuration length-accounted with matching header/body CRCs

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Signed message and device trust anchor unverified; register semantics incomplete

Follow-up: Signed message and device trust anchor unverified; register semantics incomplete

FW-007 — All3PSFfirmware containers match reference and pass6CRCs; embedded RSA keys are distinct

Status: bounded
Retained source: publication/README.md:1269 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F3 acquired hashes; prior exact-reference linkage; bounded vendor layout and encoding

Observation: All3PSFfirmware containers match reference and pass6CRCs; embedded RSA keys are distinct

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: PSS encoding is not signature verification; inner code and device key policy unresolved

Follow-up: PSS encoding is not signature verification; inner code and device key policy unresolved

FW-008 — Apple-signed PSFFlasher uses PCI mailbox firmware download and boot-service-only status variables

Evidence: 15byte-checked ranges1841records; original PCI GUID; vendor MRPC and UEFI ABI; prior exact-hash EFI signature

Observation: Apple-signed PSFFlasher uses PCI mailbox firmware download and boot-service-only status variables

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No execution established;launch/argument authority, malformed-input and individual I/O error handling incomplete

Follow-up: No execution established;launch/argument authority, malformed-input and individual I/O error handling incomplete

FW-009 — LoadedImage input and -p / efi-apple-payload* routes feed substring filename selection and conditional filename-version/force gate

Status: confirmed static consumers; upstream authority unknown
Retained source: publication/README.md:1314 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F4 inputs.original-byte trace and Stage6F3 main/download/PCI trace; RVAs 0x8ef9,0x9550,0xbc81,0xbcdb,0xa314

Observation: LoadedImage input and -p / efi-apple-payload* routes feed substring filename selection and conditional filename-version/force gate

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No authenticated external producer identified; no observed launch or rollback bypass

Follow-up: No authenticated external producer identified; no observed launch or rollback bypass

FW-010 — 512-byte argv and path allocations,96-byte payload-pointer list, unchecked signed target index, uninitialized initial EFI variable DataSize, header arithmetic before bounds, individual PCI errors discarded

Status: confirmed local checks absent; exploitability unknown
Retained source: publication/README.md:1341 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F4 inputs.original-byte trace and Stage6F3 main/download/PCI trace; RVAs 0x8fdc,0x9b41,0x965b,0x966b,0x96a6,0x9748,0x982d,0xb69c,0xb6ca,0xac16,0xad1c,0xad9f

Observation: 512-byte argv and path allocations,96-byte payload-pointer list, unchecked signed target index, uninitialized initial EFI variable DataSize, header arithmetic before bounds, individual PCI errors discarded

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Three valid packaged files pass all6CRCs; caller input control, runtime effects and transport-error reachability unproven

Follow-up: Three valid packaged files pass all6CRCs; caller input control, runtime effects and transport-error reachability unproven

FW-011 — Security-query return ignored after buffer zeroing; unfilled zero response selects UnFused success and dev_signed host filename label

Status: confirmed conditional control flow; no observed hardware event
Retained source: publication/README.md:1314 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: No independent per-ID dataset is published; see the scoped evidence description below.
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F4 inputs.original-byte trace and Stage6F3 main/download/PCI trace; RVAs 0xbf56,0xbf6e,0xbf79,0xbf7e,0xc107,0xc10c,0xc139,0x10fd0

Observation: Security-query return ignored after buffer zeroing; unfilled zero response selects UnFused success and dev_signed host filename label

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Does not alter fuses or enforce/bypass device authentication; packaged PSF names areprod_signed; no malformed inputs executed

Follow-up: Does not alter fuses or enforce/bypass device authentication; packaged PSF names areprod_signed; no malformed inputs executed

FW-012 — FirmwareUpdateLauncher consumes helper plists, assembles bless firmware/payload options and efi-apple-payload index names, requests NVRAM changes; compiled status table associates PSFFlasher with psfupdater

Status: Confirmed bounded static workflow; exact PSF producer authority incomplete
Retained source: publication/README.md:1374 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/firmware-helpers.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F5 launcher10ranges2361records179metadata checks; fresh exact-image acquisition and strict signing; path census

Observation: FirmwareUpdateLauncher consumes helper plists, assembles bless firmware/payload options and efi-apple-payload index names, requests NVRAM changes; compiled status table associates PSFFlasher with psfupdater

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No inventoried psfupdater path; a USB-C helper corroborates the generic schema, while initiating caller/helper authority, effective kernel/firmware policy and PSF-specific handoff remain unknown; no execution or writes performed

Follow-up: Locate an authoritative same-build psfupdater or alternate producer; trace launcher acceptance and device-side trust without running an updater on the production host

FW-013 — bless stages payloads and serializes EFI media paths/boot options for an IOKit NVRAM property request; signed private installer/boot/snapshot/NVRAM entitlements present

Status: Confirmed bounded static workflow
Retained source: publication/README.md:1408 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/firmware-helpers.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F6 fresh reference-linked bless;6ranges1915records10metadata139import checks

Observation: bless stages payloads and serializes EFI media paths/boot options for an IOKit NVRAM property request; signed private installer/boot/snapshot/NVRAM entitlements present

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Kernel conversion to -data variables and authorization not traced; entitlement presence does not prove execution or root caller

Follow-up: Kernel conversion to -data variables and authorization not traced; entitlement presence does not prove execution or root caller

FW-014 — MultiUpdater reads staged payloads, optionally requests IMG4 verification for seven types including psfu, supplies true verification callback to Apple loader, sets child LoadOptions and calls StartImage; update state uses attributes7

Status: Confirmed caller behavior; protocol meaning corroborated by upstream definitions
Retained source: publication/README.md:1431 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/firmware-helpers.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F6 21ranges1401original-byte records; pinned AppleLoadImage/AppleSecureBoot headers and UEFI ABI; prior exact reference/signature links

Observation: MultiUpdater reads staged payloads, optionally requests IMG4 verification for seven types including psfu, supplies true verification callback to Apple loader, sets child LoadOptions and calls StartImage; update state uses attributes7

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: Protocol definitions are external research, not OpenCore evidence; actual Apple firmware loader/device acceptance and active policy unknown

Follow-up: Protocol definitions are external research, not OpenCore evidence; actual Apple firmware loader/device acceptance and active policy unknown

FW-015 — MultiUpdater child lookup returns zero when no payload matches; resume-state writer discards SetVariable return; selected caller ignores result-writer status

Status: Confirmed static error-reporting gaps; runtime impact unverified
Retained source: publication/README.md:1408 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/firmware-helpers.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: firmware-flashers

Evidence: Stage6F6 checked d3d5-d440, d578-d63e and main db45/db48

Observation: MultiUpdater child lookup returns zero when no payload matches; resume-state writer discards SetVariable return; selected caller ignores result-writer status

Interpretation: Prior scoped conclusion retained; see status and limit

Security relevance: See linked finding context; not independently re-rated in this segment

Confidence field: Unknown in this new field; prior status/evidence classification preserved

Limit: No malformed input or failure injected; no proof of successful flash, exploitability or boot-policy bypass; trusted producer constraints unresolved

Follow-up: No malformed input or failure injected; no proof of successful flash, exploitability or boot-policy bypass; trusted producer constraints unresolved

FW-016 — Ordinary dictionary writes pass false permission override; current-task Boolean-true entitlement checks, legacy/name rules and separate LocalPolicy-storage entitlement

Status: Observed static authorization checks
Retained source: publication/README.md:1463 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: Stage6F7 nvram.instructions, entitlement-table, legacy-table and rebase-corroboration; 196403a/196403c,196358d,19635bd

Observation: Selected caller passes false; checker compares entitlement object with kOSBooleanTrue; LocalPolicy storage additionally requires com.apple.private.security.bootpolicy.nvram

Interpretation: Firmware-payload ordinary write route is gated; generic root privilege does not replace the GUID-specific entitlement

Security relevance: Kernel NVRAM mutation boundary

Confidence field: Observed

Limit: MAC/sandbox/AMFI/entry checks and all override callers remain open; no runtime policy test

Follow-up: Trace registry/MAC entry path and every true override caller

FW-017 — XML array/dictionaries convert to binary EFI paths; successful conversion queues a -data companion; sync reaches a static indirect EFI runtime call with attributes7

Status: Observed selected conversion and persistence-request chain
Retained source: publication/README.md:1497 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: Stage6F7 provider.instructions, pointer-links, nvram.instructions; 14865d1,1486602,196317b,1963263,196066f,19628b0

Observation: OSUnserializeXML, typed casts, UTF16 media-path/option construction, -data suffix and pending dictionary-to-setVariable calls retained

Interpretation: Companion data is an EFI path representation and queued modification, not firmware bytes or proof of persistence

Security relevance: Pre-boot payload selection and kernel-to-firmware handoff

Confidence field: Observed

Limit: No actual write observed; full input validation, MAC/entry authority and firmware acceptance unresolved

Follow-up: Complete converter size/error/ownership branches and registry/MAC entry controls; firmware implementation needs additional artifact

FW-018 — Eight mappings cover seven helper names; eleven signed Mach-O helper paths and fifteen EFI flasher paths; psfupdater basename absent in enumerated trees

Status: Observed compiled mapping and scoped absence
Retained source: publication/README.md:1650 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: Stage6F7 launcher-authority constant/instruction proof, helper-census; publication/FIRMWARE_HELPERS.csv

Observation: Fixed updater-name predicate and all eight dictionaries decoded; census joins hashes and retained signing records

Interpretation: Architecture variants and repeated/alternate payload locations explain multiplicity; missing helper remains provenance question

Security relevance: Helper selection and privileged producer inputs

Confidence field: Observed

Limit: No historical helper binary established; helper-internal authorization/platform restrictions not traced; absence not exhaustive across opaque containers

Follow-up: Reverse engineer located helpers and trace caller/directory authority; inspect package manifests for psfupdater

FW-019 — setProperty calls setMagicVariable but does not directly reject its subsequent original-variable queueing on a false conversion result

Status: Observed result-propagation gap; impact unknown
Retained source: publication/README.md:1519 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: Stage6F7 nvram.instructions/annotated; 1963625 through19637ea

Observation: Return used for optional logging, no result-dependent rejection before original-variable cache/pending processing

Interpretation: Conversion and original-property acceptance have separate outcomes; conversion failure may not surface as property failure

Security relevance: Error reporting and possible stale/partial state across a firmware staging boundary

Confidence field: Observed

Limit: Not a demonstrated vulnerability or successful persistent write; stale companion behavior and reachable failure inputs need further work

Follow-up: Trace all companion consumers/deletion and synchronization results; define a safe isolated model before any runtime experiment

FW-020 — Typed EFI path conversion and registry transport construction have bounded validation, append-result, media-read-error and metadata-ownership limitations

Status: bounded static analysis; runtime impact unresolved
Retained source: publication/README.md:1527 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: Stage6F7 provider.instructions; continuation converter-new.*, converter-types, converter-branch-review and arithmetic-examples; EFI_CONVERTER_BRANCHES.csv; stage6f7-transport-20260927 transport.provenance.json, transport-review.json and iomedia-slot-links.json; 1820 checked instructions/11 helpers

Observation: 22typed branches reviewed; four-field MAC parser;16bit file/node arithmetic; common append failures ignored while CDROM checks; retained metadata lacks release on selected replacement/error/null-output paths; eleven selected transport append results unused; MBR read error can return success without setting the zero-initialized signature output

Interpretation: Potential malformed or incomplete path generation and reference-leak candidates; OSData itself rejects length overflow and inadequate capacity; MBR zero-signature node is a static error-propagation candidate, not an observed boot failure

Security relevance: Privileged boot-path parsing and error/ownership boundary before NVRAM staging

Confidence field: Observed branch behavior; arithmetic/lifetime effects Supported inference; runtime impact Unknown

Limit: No runtime malformed input or allocation/read failure induced; firmware acceptance, boot impact, overflow exploitation and security bypass unproven

Follow-up: Trace authorized caller/property producers, append/read failure reachability, downstream EFI-path consumers and firmware acceptance in an isolated model

FW-021 — AppleEFINVRAM resync error-return path contains no matching unlock after acquiring the NVRAM mutex

Status: bounded static analysis; reachability and impact unresolved
Retained source: publication/README.md:1463 (explicit ID in source narrative)
Related public data: tables/efi-converter-branches.csv
Evidence level: VERIFIED (bounded static or measured observation)
Subsystem analysis: nvram-efi-paths

Evidence: resyncAllVariables196420e..42c8; lock4228; firmware call4240; error4247->429d->4290/4297; success unlock4288; continuation validation.json15recordCFG; stage6f7-policy-20260927 exact equality/sandboxcallback/pointer proofs

Observation: Nonzero ResyncNVRam deletion result follows optional logging to return without the local unlock; successful route flushes/caches/unlocks

Interpretation: Potential retained-lock error-handling defect in official-matching binary; not evidence of modification or unauthorized firmware access

Security relevance: Possible availability impact at privileged NVRAM synchronization boundary if the error route is reachable

Confidence field: Observed local control flow; retained-lock consequence Supported inference; reachability/impact Unknown

Limit: No resync request or firmware-error induction; equality and concrete sandboxcallback traced, but evaluator/profile/caller and firmware-error reachability unresolved; no demonstrated deadlock or denial of service

Follow-up: Resolve sb_evaluate_internal3033f55, effectiveprofile/globalpolicy, remainingMACregistration/kernelcallers and firmwareerrors before isolated dynamicvalidation