A new vulnerability discovered in some Razer gaming laptops could leave them open to attack. As The Register reports , a security flaw in the Intel processors of Razer laptops, first discovered by a security expert in late March, could allow hackers to deliver malware and cause damage to affected systems.
A similar vulnerability, codenamed CVE-2018-4251, was previously discovered in Apple laptops. In that case, Apple failed to disable what's known as Intel Manufacturing Mode on the system's motherboard before shipping the systems to consumers. However, the company released patches in late October to address the issue.
A similar problem now affects Razer laptops, as the company apparently failed to initially detect or patch the vulnerability. This means that hackers who already have administrative privileges could be able to modify the firmware on Razer systems to infect them with malware. They could also change the firmware versions on the machines to hide malicious viruses. In either case, the hacker attacks would be equally difficult for antivirus software to detect – or even remove.
“Razer has been notified of certain Intel Management Engine vulnerabilities in the Intel chipsets of several of its laptop models. To address this issue, Razer laptops will be shipped with an update to address these vulnerabilities,” Razer said.
According to Razer, the products affected by this vulnerability include the base model Razer Blade 15 2018 and the Razer Blade Advanced 2018 and 2019. Another model affected is the 2018 Razer Blade Stealth 13. A software tool to apply an update that fixes the issue with the Intel Management Engine is now available, and affected users are advised to reach out to Razer support for any assistance.
