this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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What are the risks of installing Vanguard on a PC with dual boot? (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 months ago by loo@lemmy.world to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.world
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tl;dr: Security concerns for my Linux partition, when running Vanguard on Windows?

Now that Vanguard is out, I can't play LoL on Linux anymore. I'm running a dual boot setup with windows and I'm using it only for stuff I can't get to work on Linux, so there is no personal data on there.

  • Are there any security risks for my Linux partition, if Vanguard is installed and running on my Linux partition?
  • Could Vanguard potentially access my ext4 Linux file system via Windows?
  • If my NAS is mounted on Windows, could that also be a security concern?

I'm grateful for any kind of feedback, since I'm not very informed in terms of rootkits and kernels!

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[–] Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me 26 points 6 months ago (2 children)

It's kernel level anticheat, it can do whatever it wants. It's on the same level as the operating system.

Realistically? Nobody's gonna bundle Linux filesystem drivers in malware just in case. If someone is to exploit Vanguard for malware I'd expect a credentials stealer to take your Steam and Discord accounts. Ransomware would likely spread to the NAS but that can be mitigated with readonly permissions where appropriate, and backups/shadow copies.

[–] Rustmilian@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Specifically it's at Ring 0.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world -5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Sooooo, exactly what the person you responded to said. Kernel level.

[–] Rustmilian@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Not really, the source is more about the entire concept in computer science. It's extremely comprehensive, for those who want to know it inside and out. TLDR : Ring 0 means anything directly controlling the hardware, which is usually the kernel. There's also rings beyond zero that are reserved for specific things, for example -1 for hypervisors like KVM & Hyper-V.

[–] loo@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

Thanks, your answer made it clearer to me what Vanguard can do. For now I'll unmount my NAS and I guess I should be safe 'enough'.