2 days ago
Fri Oct 24, 2025 4:15pm PST
Ask HN: Security of Hardware Nano KVM
Hi all, I am looking at this product: [Sipeed NanoKVM-USB](https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM_USB/development.html).

It would work very well for my need, but the company has a [terrible track-record for security](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plJGZQ35Q6I).

So I am trying to approach it from a fully paranoid perspective. Can I use this device and protect myself fully from it?

They provide the source code for the client side. SO that's fine, I can read that code, recompile it, and convince myself it is fully safe (I am only human, but let's assume it's good enough).

I have strong doubts about the firmware side though. I am not familiar with the hardware side, but could there be any security issue there?

The guys making the device are claiming ["there is no firmware code"](https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM-USB/issues/5#issuecomment-2785035753). I do not understand that statement. Can anyone more knowledgeable shed some light as to what that means, and how I could verify it?

They point to a link to corroborate that claim, but the link is broken.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

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