Nvidia graphics card flaws could let hackers hijack your PC

Nvidia graphics carte flaws could let hackers hijack your PC — what to do at present

No, we tin't discover whatsoever of these either. (Image credit: Nvidia)

Happy new year! Nvidia has released a new circular of security patches for its Windows and Linux graphics drivers and vGPU software, fixing sixteen flaws that could let miscreants conduct out diverse attacks.

The flaws "may pb to denial of service, escalation of privileges, data tampering, or information disclosure," Nvidia said in a security bulletin released yesterday (Jan. 7).

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In plain English, that means attackers could make graphics cards finish working, get command of PCs, change files or steal sensitive data.

On the bright side, exploiting any of these flaws requires local access to a PC or Linux box. That means an attacker needs to be using the computer, or perhaps another computer on the local network, to exist successful, or to employ other ways to plant malware on the auto that could conduct out the assail.

Nosotros'll spare yous the gory technical details of each flaw, merely you can read about them in a handy chart that Nvidia has placed on its security bulletin.

How to get the Nvidia graphics fixes

Users of Nvidia consumer graphics cards who have the GeForce Feel desktop application installed volition be prompted to install the updates. (Ours came through this morning.) Windows users of Nvidia GeForce cards volition be updated to driver version 461.09.

If you don't have GeForce Experience installed, or the updates don't materialize, then you can go the patches directly from the Nvidia Driver Downloads equally long as you lot know what kind of graphics menu you have.

Alternatively, Nvidia noted in its security bulletin, "your reckoner hardware vendor may provide you lot with Windows GPU display driver versions including 460.84, 457.49, and 452.66, which likewise incorporate the security updates."

Linux users may become the patches in their daily software updates. If not, then the Nvidia Driver Downloads volition be able to provide the patches.

This doesn't make Nvidia GPUs any easier to discover

Nvidia'due south been in the news lately because it's darned hard to observe whatsoever of its new-generation GeForce graphics cards, such as the RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and $1,500 RTX 3090. Supplies are so short and demand and then loftier that prices have doubled for Nvidia's previous generation of GPUs, the RTX 20 series. The flaws being patched affect drivers for all of these cards.

Ten of the xvi flaws affect only Nvidia's vGPU software, which lets multiple virtual machines — software-only computers running within other computers — access a single graphics carte du jour. That kind of setup is primarily in enterprise, not consumer, environments.

In 2020, Nvidia released at to the lowest degree iii rounds of security patches for its graphics drivers and desktop software. That's not a bad sign, because all software has flaws and this steady stream of fixes shows that Nvidia is keeping on top of things.

Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy. He has too been a dishwasher, fry melt, long-haul driver, code monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the data-security infinite for more than 15 years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown upwards in random Television news spots and fifty-fifty moderated a panel word at the CEDIA home-technology conference. Y'all can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.