New Nvidia GPU BIOS flashing tool allows users to bypass signature checks

Nvidia ended video BIOS modification over a decade ago when it added BIOS signature checks. Using an on-die security processor named Falcon, the company stopped users from changing the BIOS their card ships with. The GeForce 900 series was the first to feature the security chip, which has been kept in use up to the current RTX 40 series. Now all these years later, someone has managed to break Nvidia's security measures. 

As TechPowerUP points out, software developers and modders recently discovered a backdoor that allowed them to get around Nvidia's security solution and released a tool that takes advantage of said backdoor. Veii's OMGVflash and Kefi's NVflashk are two independently developed tools that allow you to flash almost any BIOS onto nearly any Nvidia GeForce GPU, bypassing security barriers such as BIOS signature checks and vendor/device checks (cross-flashing). vBIOS signature check bypass is supported up to RTX 20-series GPUs, allowing you to customise the BIOS, while cross-flashing (sub-vendor ID check bypass) is supported even on the RTX 4090.

Image credit: TechPowerUP

Veii has announced the tool's first public beta and shared the development history, use instructions, and some technical help via a post on the TechPowerUP forums. Kefi created a similar post on the TechPowerUp forums too, giving us some insight on the development, logic, and work behind the tool. Moreover, the software developer is now working on a GUI version that makes backing up and flashing the BIOS simpler and lets users search TPU's database for GPU BIOSes.

The applications of such tools are immense. For example, you may flash the BIOS of a factory-overclocked graphics card onto a reference-spec card to increase the power limits and clock speeds. BIOS modification also gives you control over the graphics card's voltages, cooling performance, and fan curve, allowing you to make your card quieter as long as your cooler can prevent the GPU from exceeding thermal limitations (which you can also alter).

KitGuru says: Note that tampering with the vBIOS will invalidate the warranty on your graphics card. Graphics card BIOS modification, like all modding, is risky and should only be done by experienced users.

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