Windows 11 gets a security fix – but it has broken some PC games
techradar.comWindows 11 users are in some cases seeing a security error caused by an update to Microsoft’s built-in antivirus for the OS, and it seems to be causing havoc with certain games that use anti-cheat software (as well as other problems in general).
As Windows Latest(opens in new tab) reports, after the latest update for Microsoft Defender – one that’s pushed automatically to the app – affected users are seeing a confusing warning that states: “Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection is off. Your device may be vulnerable.”
Kernel-mode what now? In a nutshell, this is a freshly updated Windows 11 security feature (which was introduced with 22H2) that uses the processor to give software or games additional security (protecting the memory stack, and preventing a would-be attacker from leveraging an opportunity to run malicious code).
The warning from the Windows Security app gives the user the opportunity to toggle stack protection back on, but the problem is that if this is done, it fails to work (in some instances, anyway) – and the warning persists.
The underlying issue is an apparent driver conflict, although it would seem that in many cases, it’s anti-cheat features that are throwing a serious spanner in the works with Windows 11.
At any rate, if you try to ‘review incompatible drivers’ to resolve the issue, Windows 11 comes up with nothing in some cases – literally producing a blank panel according to one report on Reddit(opens in new tab).
That said, another user who had a problem with Phantasy Star Online 2 found that the incompatible ‘driver’ was pointed to, and it was a file belonging to GameGuard (the anti-cheat product for that game). Uninstalling PSO2 resolved the issue, so the conflict seems to be with GameGuard.
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