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Valorant anti-cheat developer Riot Games has published an in-depth breakdown of a hardware-level vulnerability that could have been used to subvert modern anti-cheat solutions, including Vanguard.
You’ll note that this article refers to the “motherboard level” rather than the Windows kernel. This is because, unlike other exploits, this one affected the PC at the hardware level.
Naturally, Riot is very interested in this, as are manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and others.What’s more, this isn’t just about Vanguard. Riot said this specific vulnerability could have compromised not only Valorant, but competitive PC gaming at large.
What the vulnerability actually is
The vulnerability in question affects how some modern motherboards deal with security during the pre-boot process. Before your operating system starts, there are some systems that need to be in place to protect you.
However, the motherboard and anti-cheat software don’t necessarily agree on this. A simplified version of this is as follows:
- Your system says IOMMU is active
- IOMMU is not yet initialised fully
- This creates a vulnerable period on system boot
- DMA-capable devices could inject malicious code during this time
- Anti-cheat software can’t look for it at this stage
Riot compares the issue to a “bouncer on duty who’s actually asleep”, which is an apt analogy. It’s safe at a glance, but an uninitialised patch under the surface opens a vulnerability only accessible at an advanced level (i.e. not available to traditional cheaters).
How Riot and hardware makers are responding
Riot immediately engaged with the major motherboard manufacturers to start working on a resolution, specifically:
- ASUS
- ASRock
- Gigabyte
- MSI
The companies have released BIOS updates to ensure that IOMMU and related protections are active from the very instant that the system is powered on, effectively closing this pre-boot “window” entirely.
For players, this means:
- Valorant may require a BIOS update to launch
- Vanguard will now check for firmware-level security protections
- Secure Boot, VBS, and IOMMU will need to be active
- Outdated systems may be blocked until updated
This isn’t the flashiest update, but it is a very important one.what players should do now.
If you play Valorant, it is a very good idea to:
- Check your motherboard manufacturer’s website
- Update to the latest BIOS version
- Ensure that Secure Boot and virtualisation features are active
In a statement, Riot has made it clear that this change is not to punish players, but rather to continue to raise the bar for what cheaters can attempt.
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