Oak stage0: a minimal firmware for (confidential) virtual machines
summary
Minimal VM firmware targeting QEMU microvm and Q35 machines that boots Linux with far less code than OVMF/SeaBIOS, supports AMD SEV-SNP and Intel TDX, and is written in Rust. It uses QEMU fw_cfg to load kernel and ACPI, does minimal PCI setup, measures kernel/ACPI/initramfs into a DICE chain, and on SEV‑SNP clears the VMPK so attestation can’t be rebased. No EFI/BIOS services are provided; challenges include kernel assumptions about EFI and keeping up with QEMU/kernel behavior.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction and speakers
- 0:21Why build Stage0 firmware
- 3:06Firmware options and choices
- 7:49Stage0 design and features
- 10:41Challenges and EFI reliance
- 14:32Attestation and claims verification
- 15:55Use cases and Meta collaboration
- 19:29Future plans and summary
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