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Riot Vanguard
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 | This article needs more citations. (June 2025) |
| Riot Vanguard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original author | Riot Games |
| Developer | Riot Games |
| Release | April 7th, 2020 |
| Included with | Valorant League of Legends |
Riot Vanguard is a kernel-level anti-cheat developed by Riot Games. Vanguard initially released as the anti-cheat used for Valorant on April 7th, 2020.[1] Originally designed for Windows only alongside Valorant, the console edition of Valorant released in June 2024 has an anti-cheat using the same branding, however this anti-cheat functions very differently.[2] Vanguard has received much criticism because of its intrusive nature. Vanguard was introduced into League of Legends on April 11th, 2024.[3]
Kernel-level anti-cheat
On Windows, Vanguard runs primarily as a kernel-level anti-cheat to target more advanced cheating techniques.[4] This method runs at a lower system level than regular programs, which makes it more difficult for cheats to avoid detection. Kernel-level monitoring has been questioned because of its potential security risks.[5]
Critics have stated that providing the anti-cheat system with higher system privileges could be vulnerable since the higher access could be exploited by attackers.[5] Riot justifies kernel-level scanning despite such problems by claiming that this is the way that existing cheating practices can be detected.[6]
Vanguard On-Demand
Vanguard On-Demand, released June 24th, 2026, is an update which makes Vanguard only run when a game is open, and close afterwards. However, this is only possible with the following security requirements, collectively known as Vanguard Pre-Check requirements, enabled:[7]
- Windows 11 version 25H2 or newer
- Secure Boot
- TPM 2.0
- IOMMU
- Virtualization-Based Security (VBS)
- Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI)
According to Phillip Koskinas, the chief of anti-cheat at Riot Games, this feature was not possible at release as before this time, Windows and PC hardware have not had sufficient security features to make this possible.[8]
Input-output memory management
On May 19th, 2026, Riot Games released an update for Vanguard that enabled the input–output memory management unit (IOMMU), a memory management unit which protects memory from malicious Direct Memory Access (DMA) cards, for accounts flagged as having used DMA cheats.[9]
DMA cards are among the most widely documented methods of cheating in Valorant.[9] They work by directly reading and/or modifying the game's memory, which is why enabling IOMMU causes this method to stop working. Shortly after the update's release, Riot Games posted on their official X account congratulating the owners of a "brand new $6,000 paperweight," referring to the now-useless DMA devices.[9] The post caused concern among players that Vanguard was capable of permanently damaging hardware, which Riot denied, stating that they "would not and cannot" use Vanguard to brick personal computers.[10]
References
- ↑ "What is Vanguard?". Riot Games Valorant Support. 5 January 2024. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ↑ "Vanguard x VALORANT". playvalorant.com. 2024-09-20. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
- ↑ Brandon (29 April 2024). "Riot Requires Kernel Level Anti-Cheat Software". Tutanota. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
- ↑ Robinson, Craig. "Riot's Vanguard update has BSOD cheater hardware after nuking DMA cheat systems". Esports News. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- 1 2 Orland, Kyle. "Ring 0 of fire: Does Riot Games' new anti-cheat measure go too far?". Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ "Riot Vanguard FAQ (League of Legends)". Retrieved 10 June 2026.
- ↑ Kumar, Adarsh. "Riot Games' Vanguard Anti-Cheat Now Launches On-Demand". www.strafe.com. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
- ↑ Chalk, Andy (24 June 2026). "You can finally turn Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat off when you're not playing a game". PC Gamer. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Cripe, Michael. "Riot Games Says It 'Would Not and Cannot' Use Vanguard Anti-Cheat to Brick PCs After Rumors Spread". Retrieved 24 May 2026.
- ↑ Guimarães, Sofia. "Riot Games "bricks" $6,000 DMA cheating devices? Vanguard explained and response". Retrieved 25 May 2026.
Further reading
- Dorner, Christoph; Klausner, Lukas Daniel (2024-07-30). "If It Looks Like a Rootkit and Deceives Like a Rootkit: A Critical Examination of Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Systems". Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security. ARES '24. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. arXiv:2408.00500. doi:10.1145/3664476.3670433. ISBN 979-8-4007-1718-5.
- "Riot's Approach to Anti-Cheat". 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- "VALORANT Anti-cheat: Winter Update". 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- Collins, Sam; Poulopoulos, Alex; Muench, Marius; Chothia, Tom (2024-11-19). "Anti-Cheat: Attacks and the Effectiveness of Client-Side Defences". Proceedings of the 2024 Workshop on Research on offensive and defensive techniques in the context of Man At The End (MATE) attacks. CheckMATE '24. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 30–43. doi:10.1145/3689934.3690816. ISBN 979-8-4007-1230-2.