Rockstar has launched a patch for GTA On-line that—hopefully—will repair the nasty safety vulnerability (opens in new tab) found in January that enabled unscrupulous jerks to steal different gamers’ in-game cash, reset their account progress, and even “corrupt” their accounts in a approach that successfully leaves them banned from on-line play.
That is all dangerous sufficient in itself, however was doubtlessly solely the tip of the iceberg. Speyedr, the creator of the unofficial Guardian firewall (opens in new tab) mod for GTA5 that goals to guard gamers from hackers, predicted that the vulnerability might ultimately allow distant code execution, enabling hackers to run malware on any PC taking part in the sport.
Rockstar acknowledged the problem (opens in new tab) shortly after it was reported, saying it aimed to maintain it in a “security-related title replace.”
That replace is now dwell, and whereas the patch notes do not go into nice element, it is clearly geared toward addressing the exploit.
A brand new security-focused Title Replace is now accessible for Grand Theft Auto On-line on PC: https://t.co/ZaE68kJnDMFebruary 1, 2023
The patch notes, courtesy of Rockstar Help (opens in new tab):
Safety
- Carried out a brand new information protocol in GTA On-line to enhance the safety of community classes and player-to-player messaging
- Mounted a difficulty that might lead to a participant’s GTA On-line expertise being modified by a 3rd occasion, together with:
- Altering GTA$ steadiness, RP degree, Unhealthy Sport standing, and different participant stats
- Manipulation of gamers being kicked or crashed
Sport Stability and Efficiency
- Common stability enhancements
Does it work? The final consensus appears to be, “Hopefully.” Gamers on the GTA On-line subreddit (opens in new tab) are wading in and to this point there are no reviews of surprising disaster. Rockstar reporter Tez2, who made the preliminary report on the vulnerability, had a “excellent news, dangerous information” response to the patch notes.
“By way of distant exploits, it ought to be secure now,” he stated on Twitter when requested if the patch mounted the issue. “By way of common dishonest, nope. You’d nonetheless face them in public lobbies, however at the least no cheaters ought to annoy you in invite-only lobbies.”
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Sadly, the adjustments imply potential complications for Guardian customers, as Speyedr warned that the repair means present and older variations of his mod will now solely work with the “solo session” mode. A repair for that ought to be coming quickly, although.
“R* do not often mess with netcode, however this time it is sensible,” Speyedr tweeted (opens in new tab). “Will examine this ASAP and attempt to get the heuristics working once more, if all goes effectively then I am going to simply embody it with 3.1.0b6.”
We’ll regulate the subreddit to see how the patch shakes out. I’ve additionally reached out to Rockstar for extra data on the patch, and can replace if I obtain a reply.