Bambu Lab reacts after community dismay and Rossman video highlights firmware update issue

Popular 3D printer manufacturer Bambu Lab has moved to allay concerns to its user base after a firmware-related policy change caused outrage in the 3D printing community and beyond, leading prominent consumer rights advocate and YouTuber Louis Rossman to weigh in on the matter over the weekend.

A statement from Bambu on 16th January ignited the issue when it was announced that users would have to download a new version of firmware for the X Series printers or face the possibility of them not being able to print until they did.

Now Bambu Lab has issued a press release, “Clarifying How Third-Party Integration Continues Alongside New Security Enhancements,” and not, as seemed to be, the end of third-party integration and walling users into the Bambu ecosystem.”

The original announcement stated, “As part of our ongoing commitment to enhance the overall security of our products, we are introducing an authorization and authentication protection mechanism for the connection and control of Bambu Lab 3D printers. This step is a significant security enhancement to ensure only authorized access and operations are permitted.”

The original release has now been modified and removed some of the language that caused the issue – particularly around the idea that your printer could be “soft-bricked” if you did not upgrade your firmware to the latest version that would close of access to popular slicer software such as OrcaSlicer.

The community feared that this new, “walled-garden” could lead to issues down the line such as imposed subscription models, or even printers being rendered useless further down the line if authentication servers were ever switched off.”!

Bambu’s latest release reads, “Since announcing our upcoming security enhancement for X-series printers on January 16th, we’ve heard concerns from our community about third-party integration capabilities. We believe there has been some misunderstanding about the nature of these changes, and we’d like to take this opportunity to explain our approach in detail.

“At its core, this update aims to protect users while maintaining the open ecosystem our community values. Through our new Bambu Connect platform, we’re creating a secure bridge that allows continued use of popular third-party software like OrcaSlicer, both in cloud and LAN modes – the latter requiring neither internet access nor a user account.

The company’s existing security framework, which relies on cloud account binding for normal mode and access codes for LAN mode, combined with SSL encryption at the link layer, has served its users well. However, the rapid growth of Bambu Lab’s user base and the increasing sophistication of security threats have called for a more robust approach. The new system implements certificate-based authorization and cryptographic signing protocols, providing enhanced protection against unauthorized access and potential safety risks.“

The original issue was spread much further afield than the odd 3D printing subreddit when Rossman, a prominent advocate of consumer rights and Right to Repair published a video denouncing the move on his YouTube channel and his 2.1 million subscribers.

Rossman has since published a follow up highlighting how the private keys for Bambu’s Connect software have been cracked within 24 hours and has challenged the company to try to force him to remove the information saying, “In 2025 you either own your hardware or you do not own your hardware.”

Bambu Lab has this morning published an in-depth blog post following the press release stating,

“Since announcing our security enhancement for X-series printers, we’ve seen a mix of valuable feedback and unfortunate misinformation circulating online. We value the constructive input from our community, especially from print farm owners whose businesses rely on our technology. This feedback has been important in shaping our approach to ensure a balance between robust security and operational flexibility.

“At the same time, we must address false accusations head-on. Recently, we have come across numerous social media posts spreading baseless allegations and untrue claims about Bambu Lab. We want to make it absolutely clear that all of these claims are entirely false:

• Bambu Lab will remotely disable your printer (“brick” it).
• Firmware updates will block your printer’s ability to print.
• AMS functionality will be restricted, and the use of third-party filament will be disabled.
• Bambu Lab firmware contains trojans or backdoors for unauthorized remote control.
• The printers have a timed killswitch that disables them after a certain period.
• All 3D files printed are monitored, duplicated, or stolen.
• A subscription will be mandatory to use your printer.”

The post continues:

“The Truth About Our Security Update:  We’ve been reflecting on the misinformation circulating about our security update, and while it’s disheartening to see these misunderstandings arise, we acknowledge that our communication might have contributed to the confusion.

Videos, posts, and comments have claimed that we are restricting third-party tools or forcing users into a closed ecosystem. Let’s be clear about what this update actually means and stop the spread of misinformation:

This is NOT about limiting third-party software. We’re creating Bambu Connect specifically to ensure continued third-party integration while enhancing security. We’re actively working with developers like Orca Slicer to implement this integration.

This is beta testing, not a forced update. The choice is yours. You can participate in the beta program to help us refine these features, or continue using your current firmware.

About Panda Touch. We reached out to BTT as soon as we became aware of their product. We warned them that using exploited MQTT protocols was unsustainable and would place customers in an awkward situation once we updated the system. All of this communication occurred before the mass shipment of Panda Touch; however, they chose to ignore our warnings. Unfortunately, the truth is now being presented in a misleading manner. The same concerns apply to other products they manufacture that rely on these MQTT protocols.

Camera feeds concerns. Our Live View service uses P2P (Peer-to-Peer) connection, which means video streams directly between your device and printer. Only when a direct P2P connection isn’t possible does it use server forwarding, and even then, no video is ever stored on any server.”

You can read the full blog post here which goes into further detail about how Bambu Connect works and will work going forward.

This issue may be set to rumble on but Bambu Lab moving to quickly calm the waters should help at least a little.

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