diff --git a/sw/host/opentitantool/BUILD b/sw/host/opentitantool/BUILD
index 94a8115b955aa..9274732e464df 100644
--- a/sw/host/opentitantool/BUILD
+++ b/sw/host/opentitantool/BUILD
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ package(default_visibility = ["//visibility:public"])
 rust_binary(
     name = "opentitantool",
     srcs = [
+        "src/command/bfv.rs",
         "src/command/bootstrap.rs",
         "src/command/certificate.rs",
         "src/command/clear_bitstream.rs",
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@ rust_binary(
         "//sw/host/opentitanlib",
         "//sw/host/ot_certs",
         "//sw/host/sphincsplus",
+        "//util:bfv_decoder",
         "@crate_index//:anyhow",
         "@crate_index//:clap",
         "@crate_index//:directories",
diff --git a/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/bfv.rs b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/bfv.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2e10c0d7eeaeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/bfv.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright lowRISC contributors (OpenTitan project).
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, see LICENSE for details.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use clap::Args;
+use serde_annotate::Annotate;
+use std::any::Any;
+
+use opentitanlib::app::command::CommandDispatch;
+use opentitanlib::app::TransportWrapper;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Args)]
+/// Decode a raw status. Optionally accepts an ELF file to recover the filename.
+pub struct BfvCommand {
+    /// Hex BFV value as reported by device on failures.
+    bfv: Vec<String>,
+}
+
+extern "C" {
+    fn bfv_decoder(bfv: u32, buf: *mut u8, buf_size: usize) -> usize;
+}
+
+impl CommandDispatch for BfvCommand {
+    fn run(
+        &self,
+        _context: &dyn Any,
+        _transport: &TransportWrapper,
+    ) -> Result<Option<Box<dyn Annotate>>> {
+        for value in &self.bfv {
+            // Decode status.
+            let string_bfv = if value.starts_with("0x") {
+                &value.as_str()[2..]
+            } else {
+                value.as_str()
+            };
+
+            let bfv = u32::from_str_radix(string_bfv, 16)
+                .context(format!("\"{}\" is not a valid hex value", string_bfv))?;
+            let mut text = [0u8; 80];
+            // SAFETY:  the decodr function is guaranteed to size of the string
+            // written into text.
+            let size = unsafe { bfv_decoder(bfv, text.as_mut_ptr(), text.len()) };
+
+            println!(
+                "{:08x}: {}",
+                bfv,
+                std::str::from_utf8(&text[..size]).unwrap()
+            );
+        }
+        // Separate command output from the next shell prompt.
+        println!();
+        Ok(None)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/mod.rs b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/mod.rs
index 8452c37d96c49..dca42b18d763c 100644
--- a/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/mod.rs
+++ b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/command/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, see LICENSE for details.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+pub mod bfv;
 pub mod bootstrap;
 pub mod certificate;
 pub mod clear_bitstream;
diff --git a/sw/host/opentitantool/src/main.rs b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/main.rs
index 7588ec3256ceb..3aed7a0e1b1eb 100644
--- a/sw/host/opentitantool/src/main.rs
+++ b/sw/host/opentitantool/src/main.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ use opentitanlib::backend;
 #[allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
 #[derive(Debug, Parser, CommandDispatch)]
 enum RootCommandHierarchy {
+    Bfv(command::bfv::BfvCommand),
     // Not flattened because `Bootstrap` is a leaf command.
     Bootstrap(command::bootstrap::BootstrapCommand),
     // Not flattened because `Console` is a leaf command.
diff --git a/util/BUILD b/util/BUILD
index 94b9e1672e307..82fedcef56d02 100644
--- a/util/BUILD
+++ b/util/BUILD
@@ -80,3 +80,11 @@ py_binary(
     srcs = ["fusesoc_build.py"],
     deps = all_requirements,
 )
+
+cc_library(
+    name = "bfv_decoder",
+    srcs = ["bfv_decoder.c"],
+    deps = [
+        "//sw/device/silicon_creator/lib:error",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/util/bfv_decoder.c b/util/bfv_decoder.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6c6ffdba53143
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/bfv_decoder.c
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// Copyright lowRISC contributors (OpenTitan project).
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0, see LICENSE for details.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "sw/device/silicon_creator/lib/error.h"
+
+typedef struct {
+  const char *text;
+  int value;
+} error_descriptor_t;
+
+#define ERROR_TABLE_ENTRY(name, value) \
+  { #name, value }
+
+// Add an empty element in the end to make it easier to stop iterating over the
+// table.
+const static error_descriptor_t error_table[] = {
+    DEFINE_ERRORS(ERROR_TABLE_ENTRY){}};
+
+size_t bfv_decoder(uint32_t bfv, uint8_t *buf, size_t buf_size) {
+  char *str = (char *)buf;
+
+  const error_descriptor_t *edesc = error_table;
+
+  while (edesc->value) {
+    if (edesc->value == bfv) {
+      snprintf(str, buf_size, "%s", edesc->text);
+      break;
+    }
+    edesc++;
+  }
+  if (!edesc->value) {
+    // This was not an encoded BFV, must have been an exception.
+    unsigned char mod_high = (bfv >> 16) & 0xff;
+    unsigned char mod_low = (bfv >> 8) & 0xff;
+
+    if (((mod_high == 'R') && (mod_low == 'I')) ||
+        ((mod_high == 'I') && (mod_low == 'R'))) {
+      // This is an interrupt/exception error, retrieve the encoded mcause.
+      uint32_t mcause = (bfv & (1 << 31)) | ((bfv >> 24) & 0x7f);
+      const char *prefix = "";
+
+      if (mod_high == 'R') {
+        prefix = "ROM_EXT ";
+      }
+
+      snprintf(str, buf_size,
+               "%sinterrupt/exception, mcause 0x%08x, status 0x%02x", prefix,
+               mcause, bfv & 0xff);
+    } else {
+      snprintf(str, buf_size, "unknown error code");
+    }
+  }
+  return strlen(str);
+}