Scientists find security risk in RISC-V open-source chip architecture that China hopes can help sidestep US sanctions

Northwestern Polytechnical University, a major defence research institute in China, confirmed flaw which allows attackers to bypass security protections

US lawmakers reportedly consider sanctions to restrict RISC-V access because of concerns of rapid technology transfer and Chinese adoption of architecture

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A RISC-V flaw that Chinese scientists say may help their country bypass a US chip ban was confirmed by a team at Northwestern Polytechnical University, a major defence research institute in China. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:00pm, 5 Jun 2024Updated: 10:39pm, 5 Jun 2024

A Chinese research team says it has uncovered a significant security flaw in processor design that could have a wide impact on China’s booming domestic chip industry.

China was relying on the structure of the world’s largest open-source CPU architecture to build their own CPUs and bypass the US chip ban, and was paying attention to any weaknesses, they said.

The issue was found in RISC-V, an open-source standard used in advanced chips and semiconductors. Compared with mainstream CPU structures – such as X86 used by Intel and AMD –RISC-V offers free access and can be modified without restriction.

The flaw allows attackers to bypass the security protections of modern processors and operating systems without administrative rights, leading to the potential theft of protected sensitive information and breaches of personal privacy.

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The vulnerability was confirmed by the team of Professor Hu Wei at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), a major defence research institute in Shaanxi province. The researchers are experienced in hardware design security, vulnerability detection and cryptographic application safety.