# mcu-tools/mcuboot

Secure boot for 32-bit Microcontrollers!

Repository: https://github.com/mcu-tools/mcuboot
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mcuboot
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: bootloader, software, upgrade, microcontrollers, iot, device, device-management
Last push: 2026-08-13T12:03:43+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 80/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 48, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3551, "days_push": 20, "days_rel": 132, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2045, forks 979 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:08.827812+00:00)

## What it is
MCUboot is a secure bootloader for 32-bit microcontrollers that defines common infrastructure for bootloaders and flash layout, enabling secure firmware upgrades. It is OS-agnostic and ports to Zephyr, Mynewt, NuttX, RIOT, Mbed OS, Espressif, and Cypress/Infineon platforms, with an imgtool Python utility for signing images.

## Use cases
- add secure boot to an embedded firmware project
- sign and verify firmware images for a microcontroller
- implement over-the-air firmware updates on IoT devices
- boot Zephyr or Mynewt applications securely
- roll back to a previous firmware version after a failed update
- protect devices against running tampered firmware

## When to choose
- you need a proven, widely-ported secure bootloader for 32-bit MCUs
- your RTOS is Zephyr, Mynewt, NuttX, RIOT, or Mbed OS
- you need encrypted, signed, or swappable firmware images with rollback support

## When to avoid
- you need a bootloader for Linux SBCs or application processors rather than microcontrollers
- you want a full device-management or OTA cloud service rather than a bootloader
- your MCU is 8-bit or 16-bit

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: security, embedded, cryptography
- domain: embedded-systems, iot, security, developer-tools
- platform: embedded, iot, c, python
- tags: secure-boot, bootloader, firmware-update, ota, microcontroller, image-signing, imgtool

## Member repositories
- mcu-tools/mcuboot (main) score 80

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:08.827812+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:58:01.557773+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mcu-tools/mcuboot (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:08.827812+00:00, sha 46b50d73f1f3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.