A security bug in one of Rockstar’s popular online multiplayer games, the GTA PC version, is used by threat actors to cheat, remotely add or remove personal player stats, and permanently corrupt user accounts.
(For insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business, and policy, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache.)
Support forums for Rockstar Games have numerous users complaining of blocked IP addresses, cheat mods being used, and data being corrupted by threat actors exploiting the bug.
While the earliest reports of the bug were reported by Tez2, a Twitter account dedicated to Rockstar Games, a subreddit group has also pinned posts detailing the bug.
Rockstar Games has shared a tweet saying the company is aware of potential exploits being used in its online version and will be releasing a security update.
Modders, on Twitter, claim the bug can be exploited to hack into GTA online accounts and even computer systems on which the game was started.
Users were also posting on Twitter, advising other users not to log in to the game until the bug is fixed, and shared workarounds to ensure security. However, these workarounds only work for single players, solo sessions, and non-hosting online players, they claimed.
GTA is a popular online multiplayer game with its last version GTA V has sold over 170 million units worldwide as of Nov. 2022. Rockstar Games is expected to launch a new version of the GTA franchise in 2024.
Earlier this year, some game development files and footage of the upcoming game leaked online before the company could formally announce its release date.