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> The GPU is already accessible to JavaScript through WebGL. Mine isn't. Disabling WebGL is DEFINITELY on the checklist for a new browser profile GPUs are way
by Hizonner 5y ago
> The GPU is already accessible to JavaScript through WebGL.
Mine isn't. Disabling WebGL is DEFINITELY on the checklist for a new browser profile
GPUs are way too complicated, way too opaque, and way too privileged to be safely exposed to the Web. We're not talking about some Web page using your machine to mine crypto here. We're talking about some Web page owning your kernel.
Kill it with fire.
- modeless 5y agoWebGL has been part of browsers for many years now and the security track record is public. This fear has not proven true in reality. Overall, WebGL has not had more or worse security problems than other components of the browser. Great care has been taken to properly isolate and sandbox WebGL, far in excess of what any other graphics API has ever had in terms of security. WebGPU in browsers will have the same level of protection.
- jlokier 5y agoI visited a WebGL page a few years ago in Firefox on a laptop running Ubuntu, and it crashed the X server, taking down all other applications. I don't know of any other browser feature with that track record.
- incrudible 5y agoYour machine is way more likely to get owned through some bug parsing a dumb string. Anything your browser displays ends up in the graphics driver, one way or another. WebGL is arguably a much smaller surface to deal with than all the code involved in rendering a web page efficiently.