Attestation of Hardware Components

Hardware components constitute the foundation of all computations and therefore play a critical role in system integrity and reliability. Existing attestation mechanisms primarily rely on manufacturer endorsements, which provide limited visibility into the runtime behavior of hardware. This document extends the Remote ATtestation procedureS (RATS) architecture by defining a data model and guidelines for including measurements of hardware components in attestation Evidence. These measurements may represent physical properties, results of self-tests, or behavioral observations. The document considers a threat model that includes both adversarial actions and physical phenomena such as environmental variations and aging. It proposes abstract interfaces for collecting measurements, enabling interoperability while remaining agnostic to implementation mechanisms, and outlines a security model for their use in appraisal.