Nvidia Hackers Offer to Sell GPU Hash Rate Limiter Bypass

A hacking group that declares to have actually penetrated Nvidia servers is trying to offer a few of the information that includes a method to unlock graphics cards for Ethereum mining.

In late February, semiconductor huge Nvidia reported that it was examining a prospective cyber-attack that impacted parts of its online organization. The hacking group LAPSUS$ has actually declared obligation including that they handled to take 1TB (a terabyte) of information from business servers.

According to hardware outlet PCmag, the group is now providing to offer that information in addition to information on opening high-end Nvidia GPUs for crypto mining.

The hackers declare to be in belongings of personalized software application that can quickly opening Nvidia’s “Lite Hash Rate” limiter for its RTX 3000 series graphics cards. Social network posts from the group over the weekend revealed what they were using:

” If somebody purchase us the LHR, we will supply methods to [mess with] LHR without flashing anything. Without flashing=huge cash for any miner designer.”

Nvidia hash rate limiters

In an effort to dissuade crypto miners from purchasing up all of their cards, and to leave some for the players, Nvidia presented an “Ethereum hash rate limiter” in early 2021 on its flagship designs. The effort didn’t truly work given that miners purchased up older cards that were still effective enough to mine, worsening the scarcity and sending out GPU rates sky-high.

The hackers have actually currently discarded 19 GB (gigabytes) of information that includes the source code for the GPU chauffeurs and the workaround for the hash rate limiter.

The group has actually required that Nvidia raise the limiter for all of its RTX 3000 designs through a software application upgrade to clients. It threatened to leakage more information if the company did not comply, a few of which information Nvidia’s next-generation graphics cards, codenamed Ada, Hopper, and Blackwell.

However, the report included that the group now wishes to offer the chauffeur recommending that they might be bluffing. Nvidia, which has actually seen mining-related earnings downturn in Q4, did not react to their needs and was still examining the information breach.

Graphics card issues

Graphics cards are still painfully pricey and in brief supply, leaving players fuming at miners. A two-pronged issue of pandemic-induced supply problems and crypto miners snapping them all up has actually extended the problem for the previous 2 years.

Some nations have such a lack that a flourishing pre-owned market has actually emerged where there are three-year-old cards choosing more than they cost initially. Nvidia’s top-end GeForce RTX 3090 can cost as much as $2,000, and much more on some Asian markets.