How Open-Source Firmware Is Advancing Secure and Confidential Computing, Showcased at FOSDEM 2026

At the recent FOSDEM 2026 event in Brussels, open-source firmware advocates from 3mdeb delivered a comprehensive update on their work advancing open-source firmware solutions — particularly for modern AMD hardware and confidential computing platforms. The presentation underscored growing momentum behind replacing proprietary firmware with transparent, auditable alternatives that empower developers, enhance security, and broaden the horizons of open-source computing.

3mdeb, a Poland-based firmware consulting firm known for its deep involvement in open firmware efforts, was represented at FOSDEM by engineers Michał Żygowski and Piotr Król. Their talk focused on cutting-edge developments around AMD’s openSIL initiative — a collaborative effort to create an open-source CPU silicon initialization layer designed to succeed AMD’s existing proprietary AGESA firmware with the upcoming Zen 6 processor generation and beyond.

For years, firmware beneath the operating system — the low-level code that initializes hardware before the operating system takes control — has largely remained closed source. This has been true across a wide range of platforms, from server-class systems to consumer-grade desktops. Proprietary firmware can act as a “black box,” creating challenges for security researchers, system integrators, and open-source advocates who seek greater transparency and control.

Against this backdrop, openSIL represents a transformative shift. Designed as a fully open-source alternative to proprietary initialization code, it enables developers to better understand and audit the most foundational software running on modern CPUs. Although not yet ready for production deployment — particularly on next-generation hardware — proof-of-concept implementations for current AMD Zen 4 and Zen 5 platforms already exist, illustrating the initiative’s progress.

One key highlight showcased at FOSDEM was the effort to adapt the GIGABYTE MZ33-AR1 AMD EPYC 9005 “Turin” motherboard to run open-source firmware with Coreboot and openSIL. Traditionally, open-source firmware efforts have focused on reference designs controlled by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). But by successfully enabling openSIL on a retail-available board, 3mdeb is broadening access to open firmware for users and developers who want to experiment with secure, transparent firmware stacks today.

Beyond merely achieving a bootable system, the 3mdeb team is working to ensure the open-source firmware stack supports advanced features such as confidential computing. This includes booting virtual machines with AMD’s SEV-SNP technology, which enables secure encrypted virtualization — a critical capability for cloud environments where protecting guest data from host compromise is paramount.

The roadmap shared at FOSDEM lays out a series of ambitious goals for the coming year. In the near term, the team aims to upstream Coreboot support for the Gigabyte board and add support for new AMD features such as SEV-TIO, which enhances trusted I/O for EPYC Turin platforms. Work is also underway to bring up OpenBMC support for the same board, enabling open-source baseboard management. Support for OpenBMC opens doors to more transparent server management interfaces — often another area dominated by proprietary firmware.

Upstreaming to Coreboot is significant because it brings open-source firmware into the mainstream kernel of devices that developers and hobbyists use daily. Coreboot, as a replacement for legacy BIOS and UEFI implementations, provides a lightweight, flexible foundation that can be tailored for enhanced security and performance. By publishing patches and upstream improvements, 3mdeb is helping ensure that future firmware developments are accessible to the broader open-source ecosystem.

Participants at the FOSDEM session emphasized that this work is not merely about lowering barriers to firmware modification — it’s a foundational step toward improving trust in computing infrastructure. With firmware often running at a higher privilege level than operating systems, vulnerabilities or backdoors in proprietary firmware can have outsized risk. Open-source firmware mitigates this by enabling independent audits, community review, and collaborative security research — principles that have been central to open operating systems like Linux for decades.

The broader firmware community is also looking to expand how it engages with events like FOSDEM. In parallel to technical development, there is a push to establish dedicated conference tracks or “devrooms” focused on firmware and hardware-level software, recognizing that these domains are becoming increasingly relevant due to growing security concerns and the expanding use of open-source hardware.

Despite the technical complexity of replacing decades-old proprietary firmware stacks, initiatives like openSIL and Coreboot adaptation demonstrate steady progress. By enabling open-source firmware on real hardware — and pushing improvements back to community projects — developers are laying the groundwork for a more transparent and secure computing landscape. As these efforts mature, open firmware could become a standard component of server platforms, consumer devices, and confidential computing infrastructure alike.

For attendees and developers who want to explore these advancements firsthand, videos and presentations from FOSDEM 2026 are being archived online. These resources provide deeper insights into the technical details behind open-source firmware evolution and the collaborative efforts driving them forward.