CycloneBOOT is a secure firmware update solution targeting 32-bit microcontrollers. It provides a reliable and secure method for booting and updating the firmware of your device. Tailored to work with a variety of ARM Cortex-M based microcontrollers, CycloneBOOT ensures a seamless boot process every time.
CycloneBOOT is available either as open source (GPLv2 license) or under a royalty-free commercial license (non-GPL license). We also propose an evaluation license (90-day license in source form) with technical support for an easier onboarding and effective evaluation of our software.
Main Features
CycloneBOOT includes several security measures to protect against external threats and unauthorized access. It features an advanced verification process that checks the integrity of firmware update images before processing them. It is also capable of working with encrypted firmware update images, and it supports authentication or digital signature to verify the incoming firmware update images.
CycloneBOOT offers versatile support for various memory partitioning configurations. It accommodates different MCU internal flashes, whether used with or without external flash. It can also enable In-Application Programming (IAP) with dual-bank flash MCUs. This flexibility allows the boot process to be tailored to different scenarios depending on the desired levels of security and reliability.
CycloneBOOT includes fallback and anti-rollback support to ensure that your device is always able to boot, even in the event of a failure. The fallback feature allows user to revert to a previous firmware if the latest firmware contains bugs or serious issues. The anti-rollback feature prevents unauthorized downgrades of the current firmware, ensuring that only latest versions of the firmware are used. This helps to protect against potential vulnerabilities that may exist in older firmware versions.
CycloneBOOT is protocol agnostic, allowing firmware updates to be performed using various communication channels such as Ethernet, USB, UART, Wi-Fi, Cellular Modem, etc. It features a simple and intuitive interface, making it easy to integrate alongside your existing firmware and your favorite protocol.
In summary, we can help you compare these features and different update scenarios, and provide a custom demo tailored to your needs. As always with ORYX, you can evaluate the full source code!
Detailed Feature List
- Secure firmware update solution for 32-bit MCUs (ARM Cortex-M)
- Support for various MCU internal flashes and external flashes
- Support for In-Application Programming (IAP) when using MCUs with dual-bank flash capabilities
- Support for encrypted firmware update images using AES-CBC
- Integrity verification of firmware update images (CRC32, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2)
- Authentication of firmware update images using HMAC
- Signature of firmware update images using RSA or ECDSA
- Fallback support (restores previous firmware version if needed)
- Anti-rollback support (prevents installing a previous firmware version)
- Can be integrated in client or server operation
- Can run alongside a RTOS or in Bare Metal
CycloneBOOT solution includes:
- An Update Library, integrated within your user application, for processing incoming firmware update images
- An optional static Bootloader for advanced features (like current firmware verification process at every startup, fallback support, managing an external flash...)
- A CLI Tool (ImageBuilder) running on Windows or Linux to build a secure firmware update image (can encrypt the firmware and compute an integrity tag, an authentication tag or a signature)
Secure Firmware Update
Easy to use with TCP/IP Protocols
With our experience on TCP/IP protocols we can provide you with a ready-to-use Ethernet Bootloader by bundling CycloneBOOT with CycloneTCP (TCP/IP stack), CycloneSSL (TLS library) and CycloneSSH (SSH library). You could for example fetch the new firmware image over Internet (LAN, Wi-Fi, Cellular Modem) using protocols like:
- TFTP / FTP / FTPS
- HTTP / HTTPS
- MQTT / MQTTS
- SFTP / SCP ...
Supported Microcontrollers
- STM32L4
- STM32F4
- STM32F7
- STM32H7
- STM32U5
- STM32H5NEW
- ATSAME54
Supported Toolchains / Compilers
Download CycloneBOOT
Both Open Source and Evaluation packages of CycloneBOOT can be obtained from this page.
Note: These packages also include CycloneTCP (TCP/IP stack), CycloneSSH (SSH library with SFTP protocol) and various third-party software (BSP drivers, HAL layers, RTOS, etc.) for demonstration purpose.
CycloneBOOT Release History
This section provides version history and main changes.
| Version | Date | Links | Changes |
|---|
| 2.5.2 | June 6, 2025 | Open | Eval | New - Added support for automatic firmware fallback to the last known working version if the firmware update image is unstable or corrupted, or if the current firmware is corrupted
- Added user-definable callback functions in bootloader operations to allow custom code execution, such as implementing a failsafe mode in case of issues with the update or current firmware image
- Added CMake as a supported build system for the following boards: Nucleo-H563ZI, Nucleo-H743ZI, Nucleo-H7A3ZI-Q, and STM32H753I-EVAL. In future releases, CMake support will be expanded and standardized.
- Added new demo projects for Nucleo-H563ZI (Single Bank, demo with HTTP server) and STM32F769I-EVAL (Single Bank + External Memory, demo with MQTT client)
Improvements - As part of the multi-stage bootloader feature on our roadmap, the following changes have been made to the bootloader implementation:
- `static_bootloader` is renamed to `second_stage_bootloader` (note: the next release will include a `first_stage_bootloader`, which will enable updates to the `second_stage_bootloader`)
- Improvements to the bootloader's finite state machine
- Fixed memory related issue in ImageBuilder utility
|
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| 2.5.0 | Feb. 10, 2025 | Open | Eval | Version Change Notice - In this release, we are aligning the version numbering of CycloneBOOT with the versioning scheme used for all our other software products, ensuring a consistent versioning structure across all our software.
- The version change is driven by our shared dependency on the 2.5.0 version of the cryptographic library (CycloneCRYPTO), now consistent across all of our security products.
- As part of this alignment, the version of this new CycloneBOOT release is 2.5.0, succeeding the previous legacy version L.3.0.6. All future releases will follow the new versioning system (2.5.x).
What this means for you: - The version number change does not affect the functionality or features of the product. The underlying product remains the same, with updates and improvements applied as usual.
- Any major changes will be highlighted as usual
Improvements - CycloneCRYPTO library has been updated to version 2.5.0
|
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| L.3.0.6 Legacy version | Dec. 13, 2024 | Open | Eval | New - Add support for STM32H5 family
- New evaluation board supported (Nucleo-H563ZI)
- Add SFTP Server demonstration project for Nucleo-STM32H563ZI board
Improvements - CycloneCRYPTO library has been updated to version 2.4.4
|
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| L.3.0.4 Legacy version | May 31, 2024 | Open | Eval | New - New evaluation boards supported (Nucleo-H743ZI2 from STMicroelectronics and SAM E54 XPlained Pro from Microchip)
- Update Library:
- Added safe-guards against mismatching AES keys on the update server and on the embedded device
- ImageBuilder utility:
- Added HASH-based encryption key verification logic to update image
- Added support for encryption and authentication keys in both ASCII and HEX formats
Improvements - Improved memory slot management with an abstraction layer to safeguard against any overflows and run-time errors related to bad memory slot configuration
- Added support for dual-bank fallback mode on STM32U5 family
- CycloneCRYPTO library has been updated to version 2.4.2
|
|---|
| L.3.0.2 Legacy version | Feb. 5, 2024 | Open | Eval | New - Added support for In-Application Programming (IAP) using Single Bank MCU without necessitating an external memory (demo project available for STM32F769I-EVAL evaluation board)
- New evaluation boards supported (Nucleo-L496ZG, Nucleo-F429ZI, Nucleo-F767ZI, Nucleo-H7A3ZI-Q, STM32F769I-DISCOVERY)
Improvements - Clearly distinguished IAP Single Bank demos: those requiring external flash (iap-single-bank-ext-mem/) and those using only MCU internal flash (iap-single-bank/)
|
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| L.3.0.0 Legacy version | Dec. 18, 2023 | Open | Eval | New - Various demonstration projects for Nucleo-U575ZI-Q, Nucleo-H743ZI2, STM32429I-EVAL, STM32F769I-EVAL and STM32H753I-EVAL2 evaluation boards
- Revamped READMEs for our demonstration projects, making them much more user-friendly and easy to understand
Improvements - Internal re-structuring of modules for better code reuse
- Reorganization of memory related functions for more flexibility and portability across different use cases
- Improvements to ImageBuilder PC utility (formerly AppImageBuilder) to better manage boot offset required by different MCU families
- CycloneCRYPTO library has been updated to version 2.3.4
|
|---|
| L.2.1.0 Legacy version | Dec. 23, 2022 | Open | Eval | New - Introduction of new error codes for specific firmware update related error scenarios. The list of error codes will be expanded gradually in upcoming releases.
- AppImageBuilder CLI utility has been completely overhauled. The source code for the utility is also now available. Multiplatform support (Windows/Linux) alongside POSIX compatible CLI parameters/flags have been added. CMake based toolchain is now used to build the project and to facilitate compilation on a number of different OS’s.
Improvements - CycloneCRYPTO library has been updated to version 2.2.0
- Reorganization of security related (authentication, signature, and integrity verification) modules into a separate package to better code reuse
- All HTTP server demo projects will now display a message in the HTML UI, if an error occurs during firmware update process
- Added new demonstration projects for Nucleo-H743ZI2 (HTTP Server Dual Bank Demo, HTTPS Client Dual Bank Demo)
Bugfixes - Reworked ECDSA verification process
- Correct some edge-cases related to Single Bank update image processing (with the static bootloader)
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| L.2.0.2 Legacy version | Jul. 29, 2022 | Open | Eval | New - Added new demo boards (Nucleo-STM32H7A3-ZIQ, Nucleo-STM32L496-ZG, SAME54-Xplained-Pro)
- Added new demo projects on STM32 evaluation boards (IAP Demo through USB/RNDIS with HTTP Server protocol, IAP Demo through UART with Y-Modem protocol)
Improvements - Improved parsing process for the image update
|
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| L.2.0.0 Legacy version | Mar. 25, 2022 | Open | Eval | New - Added support for Single Bank MCUs
- Added support for external flash memory devices through an abstraction layer
- Included a static bootloader to perform advanced firmware update scenarios
- Added support for Fallback & Anti-rollback features during firmware update
- Added demo projects for STM32 targets (Nucleo-F429ZI, Nucleo-F767ZI, STM32F769I-DISCO evaluation boards)
Improvements - CycloneBOOT architecture has been revamped to incorporate Single Bank MCU support (with external memory)
- Expanded Cryptographic algorithms support for firmware security
- Added a Linux binary of ApplicationImageBuilder utility, used to create firmware update images
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| L.1.0.1 Legacy version | Apr. 09, 2021 | Open | - Legacy CycloneBOOT demonstration package (IAP library) for STM32F4 and STM32F7 MCUs with Dual Bank internal MCU Flash
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