The RISC-V TEE Landscape: A Survey of Isolation Architectures, Extended Security Mechanisms and Open Research Challenges

Cetin H., BOZKIR A. S.

8th International Congress on Human-Computer Interaction, Optimization and Robotic Applications, ICHORA 2026, Ankara, Turkey, 21 - 23 May 2026, (Full Text)

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Doi Number: 10.1109/ichora69329.2026.11537069
  • City: Ankara
  • Country: Turkey
  • Keywords: Confidential Computing, Enclave, Hardware Security, RISC-V, Side-Channel Attacks, Trusted Execution Environment
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The proliferation of cloud and edge computing has intensified the demand for hardware-enforced confidential computing solutions capable of protecting data in use against privileged adversaries, including compromised operating systems and hypervisors. The open and modular RISC-V architecture has emerged as a compelling platform for Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) research, yet the resulting ecosystem remains fragmented across incompatible designs with poorly understood trade-offs. To address this gap, this paper presents a systematic review of the RISC-V TEE landscape, covering process-based enclave frameworks (Keystone, Sanctum, Penglai, CURE, MI6, TIMBER-V, SPEAR-V), virtualization-based confidential VM architectures (CoVE, Zion, VirTEE), and extended security mechanisms including DMA protection (IOPMP, HECTOR-V), firmware privilege separation (Dorami), control-flow integrity (ROLoad-PMP), system-level isolation (WorldGuard), and secure inter-enclave communication (Cerberus, Dep-TEE). Through a structured comparison of architectural characteristics, Trusted Computing Base (TCB) compositions, and performance overhead across standardized benchmarks, our analysis reveals that no single design dominates across all dimensions, and that meaningful security guarantees require mechanisms extending well beyond CPU-core isolation. We further identify interoperability, formal verification and SoC-level security as the most critical open research challenges and outline concrete directions toward a cohesive foundation for secure cloud and edge deployments.