Embedded-EEPROM descrambling via laser-based techniques – A case study on AVR MCU

Abstract

Embedded Non-Volatile-Memory (NVM) such as Flash or EEPROM is a key component in modern microcontroller units. For instance, it can be used to store critical information such as user passwords or device firmware. Although several studies reported ways to extract binary data from embedded EEPROM bitcells, data organization has received less attention. In this paper, we present a method to identify bitcells organization in the EEPROM array. It relies on a combination of various laser-based techniques. The method was applied to an 8 bits AVR microcontroller.