Type of Publication: Article in Collected Edition

MPUsh: Applying Security Hotpatches Instead Of MPU Barriers

Author(s):

Niesler, Christian; Scholz, Christian; Davi, Lucas

Title of Anthology:

International Conference on Constructive Approaches for Security Analysis and Design of Embedded Systems

Publisher:

Springer

Location(s):

Regensburg, Germany

Publication Date:

2026

Citation:

Download BibTeX

Abstract

We present an MPU-based hotpatching method, MPush, for real-time embedded systems that redirects execution from protected flash regions to RAM-resident patches via HardFault handling. Our demonstration on a syringe pump showed practical viability, with measured overheads of 15 cycles for activation and 136 cycles (46 without optional validations) for redirection. Our results confirm the approach's real-time compatibility. The MPU proves effective for runtime patching in constrained environments; however, system-specific constraints may affect its applicability.