Modern GPUs vulnerable to new GPU.zip side-channel attack

[P4-630]

Researchers from four American universities have developed a new GPU side-channel attack that leverages data compression to leak sensitive visual data from modern graphics cards when visiting web pages.

The researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of this 'GPU.zip' attack by performing cross-origin SVG filter pixel-stealing attacks through the Chrome browser.

The researchers disclosed the vulnerability to impacted video card manufacturers in March 2023. However, as of September 2023, no affected GPU vendors (AMD, Apple, Arm, NVIDIA, Qualcomm) or Google (Chrome) have rolled out patches to address the problem.

The new flaw is outlined in a paper from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Washington, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and will appear in the 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy.

GPU.zip severity​

GPU.zip impacts almost all major GPU manufacturers, including AMD, Apple, Arm, Intel, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA, but not all cards are equally affected.

The fact that none of the impacted vendors have decided to fix the issue by optimizing their data compression approach and limiting its operation to non-sensitive cases further raises the risk.

Although GPU.zip potentially impacts the vast majority of laptops, smartphones, tablets, and desktop PCs worldwide, the immediate impact on users is moderated by the complexity and time required to perform the attack.

Also, websites that deny cross-origin iframe embedding cannot be used for leaking user data through this or similar side-channel attacks.

"Most sensitive websites already deny being embedded by cross-origin websites. As a result, they are not vulnerable to the pixel stealing attack we mounted using GPU.zip," explains the researchers in a FAQ on the team's website.

Finally, the researchers note that Firefox and Safari do not meet all the criteria needed for GPU.zip to work, such as allowing cross-origin iframes to be loaded with cookies, rendering SVG filters on iframes, and delegating rendering tasks to the GPU.


Update 9/28 - An Intel spokesperson has sent BleepingComputer the following comment regarding the GPU.zip risk and its impact on the firm's products:

While Intel hasn't had access to the researcher’s full paper, we assessed the researcher findings that were provided and determined the root cause is not in our GPUs but in third party software.

More:

Modern GPUs vulnerable to new GPU.zip side-channel attack

Researchers from four American universities have developed a new GPU side-channel attack that leverages data compression to leak sensitive visual data from modern graphics cards when visiting web pages.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

GPU.zip

www.hertzbleed.com

 

[AnotherReader]

So there's a simple fix: don't use Chrome.

 

[R-T-B]

So there's a simple fix: don't use Chrome.

That won't protect you any. A more simple fix would be don't have anything on your screen you aren't ready to share. Realistically, you are more likely to have discord or whatever accidentally launch a screen sharing session than for this to bite you. Or have your mom walk in.

 

[thesmokingman]

That won't protect you any. A more simple fix would be don't have anything on your screen you aren't ready to share. Realistically, you are more likely to have discord or whatever accidentally launch a screen sharing session than for this to bite you. Or have your mom walk in.

So I shouldn't keep my passwords.txt on the desktop whilst using chrome?

 

[Solaris17]

So I shouldn't keep my passwords.txt on the desktop whilst using chrome?

That’s fine. They will just see the title. Just don’t open it.

best to make up your own cypher using the unknown Pokémon and write your passwords encoded so when you do have passwords.txt open you can look at your notebook and decode them.

 

[R-T-B]

So I shouldn't keep my passwords.txt on the desktop whilst using chrome?

you shouldn't open it when using any browser in a situation where...

No. Just delete that right now, you savage. Use a password manager with local hosting.

 

[thesmokingman]

But but but...