The Vanguard Challenge

DEF CON 34 · Presented with Riot Games

Participants are invited to perform a live demonstration of practical manipulation of game client memory to gain a competitive advantage against a specially prepared Vanguard build while operating on a fully secured Windows platform.

Objective

Demonstrate the ability to perform a continuous and meaningful read or write of VALORANT's memory and automate gaining a clear competitive advantage while:

  • Remaining active in practice range or custom lobby for at least 5 minutes
  • Running the official competition build of Vanguard
  • Operating on a fully secured Windows platform
  • Successfully avoiding prevention or detection by the competition build

Participant Requirements

Participants must:

  1. Request a temporary test account from a volunteer in the GHV Discord.

    • DO NOT USE A PERSONAL OR PRIMARY RIOT ACCOUNT FOR THIS CHALLENGE.
    • Throwaway accounts should only be used to enter lobby or local custom games — NO LIVE MATCHMAKING.
    • Be aware that while temporary accounts on competition builds are permitted to engage in this competition, the challenge is about evasion, and bans can still happen.

  2. Install the custom Vanguard build from the GHV challenge share — dc_34_vanguard_cheat_challenge.exe.

  3. Use this competition build for the duration of the challenge.

  4. Use a system that satisfies the competition security requirements:

    • Windows 11 25H2
    • TPM 2.0 enabled
    • Secure Boot enabled
    • Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) enabled
    • Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity (HVCI) enabled
    • IOMMU enabled

  5. Run competition Vanguard in "On Boot" driver mode (no "Pre-Check").

    • Uninstalling and re-installing Vanguard can reset any Pre-Check state.

  6. Have VALORANT actively running during the demonstration.

Plan to prepare your system before arriving. Enabling Windows security features may require configuration changes and OS updates.

Challenge Scope

Successful demonstrations must show a meaningful capability to:

  • Read or write VALORANT process memory
  • Leverage that R/W capability to develop a clear advantage in game

Examples include but are not limited to:

  • Reading player state or entity positions to create ESP
  • Parsing and patching critical code paths or data structures to automate or perfect skill-based actions

The following are explicitly out of scope:

  • Pixel bots
  • Screen-reading automation
  • Any technique that does not meaningfully interact with game memory

A meaningful memory read or write is one that demonstrates access to game state capable of providing a competitive advantage or otherwise influencing gameplay. The determination of whether a demonstration is meaningful rests with the judges.

Participants are not required to disclose their implementation or technique beyond what is necessary to demonstrate that it functions. Riot welcomes technical discussion, but disclosure is entirely voluntary.

Submission Process

  1. Flag a designated volunteer in the CTF channel of the GHV Discord to begin the verification process.

  2. Share the name of the throwaway account you were provisioned.

  3. Be prepared to demonstrate that:

    • The official competition build of Vanguard is installed and running.
    • The system satisfies the required security configuration.
    • VALORANT is actively running.
    • You can perform a qualifying memory-based read/write advantage against VALORANT while in practice range or a custom game.

  4. Judges may ask you to repeat portions of the demonstration or perform additional validation. You are not required to disclose the underlying technique or provide source code.

  5. Once a submission is verified and accepted, a judge will record the submission time, account name, and any additional information for post-event validation and prize eligibility.

Prizes

Participant Completion Prize

The first participants to successfully complete the challenge will receive a commemorative shirt or deck of playing cards, while supplies last — whether or not their method gets detected.

Grand Prize: 512 GB OLED Steam Deck

To qualify, the participant must:

  • Be the quickest person to demonstrate a qualifying advantage leveraging read/write capability before the conference closes on Saturday.
  • Remain undetected until 12:00 PM Sunday, following a post-event review.

This intentionally rewards both speed and stealth. A participant who demonstrates first but is later detected may lose eligibility. An undetected solution submitted significantly later may not qualify if another participant achieved both speed and stealth first.

The winner will be notified over the GHV Discord to coordinate receiving their Grand Prize.

Get Started