---
name: sev-attestation-8345cd11de26
description: Perform AMD SEV-SNP remote attestation to cryptographically verify VM identity and integrity. Use when proving a VM is running in a genuine AMD SEV-SNP confidential computing environment, verifying VM integrity before trusting it with secrets, checking SEV-SNP availability, generating attestation reports, validating AMD certificate chains (ARK/ASK/VCEK), or debugging attestation failures.
---

# sev-attestation

AMD SEV-SNP remote attestation for cryptographic VM identity verification.

## Description

Perform AMD SEV-SNP (Secure Encrypted Virtualization - Secure Nested Paging) remote attestation to cryptographically verify VM identity and integrity. Use this skill when:

- Proving a VM is running in a genuine AMD SEV-SNP confidential computing environment
- Verifying the integrity of a confidential VM before trusting it with secrets
- Checking if SEV-SNP is available and properly configured
- Generating attestation reports for remote verification
- Validating AMD certificate chains (ARK → ASK → VCEK)
- Debugging attestation failures or certificate issues

**Keywords**: SEV-SNP, attestation, confidential computing, AMD, VCEK, certificate chain, remote attestation, VM identity, TCB, measurement

## Workflow

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    SEV-SNP Attestation Flow                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │  1. Detection    │
                    │  Is SEV-SNP      │
                    │  available?      │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
              ┌──────────────┴──────────────┐
              │                             │
              ▼                             ▼
        ┌─────────┐                   ┌─────────┐
        │   YES   │                   │   NO    │
        └────┬────┘                   └────┬────┘
             │                              │
             ▼                              ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐             ┌─────────────────┐
    │ 2. Generate     │             │ Exit with       │
    │    Report       │             │ helpful error   │
    └────────┬────────┘             └─────────────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐
    │ 3. Display      │
    │    Report Info  │
    └────────┬────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐
    │ 4. Fetch AMD    │
    │    Certificates │
    │ (ARK, ASK, VCEK)│
    └────────┬────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐
    │ 5. Verify       │
    │    Cert Chain   │
    └────────┬────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐
    │ 6. Verify       │
    │    Report Sig   │
    └────────┬────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌─────────────────┐
    │   PASSED or     │
    │   FAILED        │
    └─────────────────┘
```

## Quick Start

### Check if SEV-SNP is Available

```bash
./scripts/detect-sev-snp.sh
```

### Run Full Attestation

```bash
./scripts/full-attestation.sh [output_dir]
```

This runs the complete 6-step attestation workflow and outputs PASSED or FAILED.

## Individual Steps

Each step can be run independently for debugging or custom workflows:

| Script | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| `scripts/detect-sev-snp.sh` | Check SEV-SNP availability |
| `scripts/generate-report.sh <output_dir>` | Generate attestation report with nonce |
| `scripts/fetch-certificates.sh <report_file> <output_dir>` | Fetch AMD certificates from KDS |
| `scripts/verify-chain.sh <certs_dir>` | Verify certificate chain |
| `scripts/verify-report.sh <report_file> <certs_dir>` | Verify report signature |

## Prerequisites

- **snpguest**: Rust CLI from [virtee/snpguest](https://github.com/virtee/snpguest)
- **openssl**: For certificate operations
- **curl**: For fetching certificates from AMD KDS
- **Root access**: Required to access `/dev/sev-guest`

Install snpguest:
```bash
cargo install snpguest
```

## Reference Documentation

- [Report Fields](references/report-fields.md) - Attestation report field reference
- [Error Codes](references/error-codes.md) - Common errors and troubleshooting
- [Manual Verification](references/manual-verification.md) - OpenSSL-based verification without snpguest

## Technical Details

- **AMD KDS URL**: `https://kdsintf.amd.com`
- **Certificate Chain**: ARK (self-signed) → ASK → VCEK
- **Report Signature**: ECDSA P-384
- **Device**: `/dev/sev-guest` (requires root or sev group membership)


---
Source attribution: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/xinyuwang/sev-attestation/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 clawdbot

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: kbarbel640-del
Original project: https://github.com/kbarbel640-del/skills/blob/e7e336ac628c3e3bd771aff1aaa469c93778f94a/skills/xinyuwang/sev-attestation/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Development & Engineering
Roles: Backend Developer, DevOps / SRE, Security Engineer
Specialties: Backend, DevOps
Tools: Curl, Openssl, Snpguest
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 8a45d538c2b58840c71194d03e862c3be187833df79486b8061c567746f946b4