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UEFI Secure Boot customization lets a device owner change which boot software the device trusts. NSA published a customization report on September 17, 2020, then announced separate management guidance on December 11, 2025. The newer sheet addresses checking configuration, comparing it with industry norms, verifying enforcement, and recognizing and recovering from misconfiguration; its announcement does not make the 2020 report new.
What is UEFI Secure Boot customization?
UEFI Secure Boot is a boot-time policy mechanism: it limits which boot binaries can run according to trust values configured on a device. That matters because bootkits can gain persistent, privileged execution early in startup. NSA describes Secure Boot as one of several mechanisms that can limit boot-time software.
Default configurations commonly block unsigned or unknown boot software while allowing many mainstream operating systems. Customization changes that policy to meet an owner’s needs, including allowing custom kernels or drivers. It can also change how much influence hardware or software vendors retain over the device’s trust decisions. NSA’s December 2025 announcement describes the protective role of Secure Boot, while its customization resource explains the customization options and tools.
What do PK, KEK, DB, and DBX mean?
Secure Boot’s four key stores have distinct roles in the chain of trust. The Platform Key (PK) authorizes changes to the Key Exchange Key (KEK); KEK certificates authorize changes to the allow and deny databases.
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| Store or key | Role |
|---|---|
| PK (Platform Key) | A single certificate authorizes changes to KEK. |
| KEK (Key Exchange Key) | Certificates in this store authorize changes to DB and DBX. |
| DB | Allow list of certificates and hashes for trusted boot binaries. |
| DBX | Deny list of certificates and hashes for untrusted boot binaries. |
These roles make customization consequential: changing a higher-level key can affect which parties are authorized to change the lists that determine what runs.
How do partial and full customization differ?
The key distinction is how much factory trust remains and who takes responsibility for deciding what is trusted. NSA describes partial customization as adding entries to DB, DBX, and/or KEK while retaining some factory values. Full customization replaces PK, KEK, and DB with organization-created records.
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| Approach | Vendor influence | Typical fit and trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Partial customization | Some factory values remain, so some vendor influence remains. | Can support Windows, Linux, hypervisors, unsigned drivers, or custom kernels while retaining part of the factory trust configuration. |
| Full customization | Replacing PK, KEK, and DB removes system- and software-vendor influence. | NSA frames it for particularly sensitive organizations or those compiling their own operating systems. The organization must vet trusted software and respond to vulnerabilities affecting it. |
Full customization is not simply a stronger setting to enable everywhere: it transfers trust decisions and ongoing work to the organization. NSA warns that this entails significant administrative overhead because the organization must determine what is trustworthy and react to vulnerabilities in trusted binaries.
When might customization be useful?
The NSA repository identifies custom live media, drivers, and kernels as use cases. Its examples include environments that need to run unsigned drivers or custom kernels. The practical decision depends on whether those compatibility needs justify changing the default trust arrangement and whether the organization can maintain the resulting policy.
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- Trust ownership: Decide whether factory trust should remain in part or whether the organization can own signing, validation, and trust-list maintenance.
- Compatibility: Account for the operating systems, hypervisors, drivers, kernels, or live media the device must start.
- Ongoing response: Consider how trusted binaries will be reviewed and how vulnerabilities affecting them will be handled.
The NSA repository provides helper scripts and parsers for working with hashes and EFI Signature List files. It is a software resource, not a recommendation for a particular hardware product.
What does NSA say about standard and custom modes?
In a June 2019 fact sheet, NSA described standard Secure Boot with TPM support as the protection-and-overhead balance for most organizations and user workstations. It characterized custom mode with TPM support as offering the best protection against threats, but with greater overhead, and suggested focusing it on the most at-risk machines to manage that burden. This is dated 2019 guidance, not a current universal mandate. Read the NSA fact sheet.
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What did NSA announce in December 2025?
On December 11, 2025, NSA announced a distinct Cybersecurity Information Sheet titled “Guidance for Managing UEFI Secure Boot.” The announcement says it clarifies what correct configuration looks like and covers querying device settings, comparing observed results with industry norms, verifying enforcement, and recognizing and recovering from detected problems or misconfigurations. The NSA announcement links to the full sheet, but its detailed procedures and thresholds are not established by the announcement itself. Consult the full sheet for step-by-step instructions rather than relying on an unverified command sequence.
The earlier customization report remains a separate NSA resource, listed as published September 17, 2020, in the agency’s Cybersecurity Advisories & Guidance listing.
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