Insiders warn of a dangerous exploit that can lead to a ban of your account or even damage your PC. Here”s how you can protect yourself.
Crime has always ruled Los Santos, but when an exploit is used to harm players in GTA Online the fun naturally stops. Possibly this goes back to the big leak of GTA 6, the hacker had allegedly also stolen the source code of GTA 5 at that time, which was later probably a small part (also leaked) of it.
What”s going on in GTA Online?
In the last few days, a new hack, or exploit, has been doing the rounds in the online offshoot of GTA 5. Although the game has been plagued by similar incidents for years, the new exploit allegedly uses the leaked source code and is particularly problematic.
Players can not only use it to gain all kinds of advantages through cheats, but can also cause considerable harm to others, as insider Tez2 also warns on Twitter:
GTAOnline Warning Update:
The exploit is partial remote code execution.Paid mod menus are racing as speak to abuse this to the further extent.
This could transform into something much worse to extend beyond a game and affect your PC. https://t.co/eDtVrOGXQn
– Tez2 (@TezFunz2) January 20, 2023
This allows exploiters – without even joining your session – to alter your stats, remove your money and corrupt your account, which can lead to a permanent ban. Tez2 even fears that a new form of exploit could harm your computer outside the game. However, he does not elaborate on this assumption.
What is Rockstar doing?
The developers seem to be aware of the problem and are working behind the scenes on a solution, (as the insider continues). We have asked Rockstar for a statement in this regard and will add it here should we receive a response.
Update from 24 January 2023: In the meantime, the official Rockstar support account on Twitter has commented on the potential exploits. According to this, an upcoming title update will address the security problems. Details on when this will be released and what exactly it will contain are currently not available.
We are aware of potential new exploits in GTA Online for PC, which we aim to resolve in an upcoming planned security-related Title Update.
If you think you might have experienced any related issues, please reach out to Rockstar Support: https://t.co/Yqqj0SEDwa
– Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) January 23, 2023
What can you do?
Take a break: To be absolutely safe, it”s probably best not to log into GTA Online for the time being and put the game aside until there”s an all-clear. This is also advised (in the GTA Online subreddit).
If you still want to play, (advises Tez2 to do so) make sure that no one can join your session with a firewall rule. However, the author of the tool he recommends again insists that even this option (does not guarantee security), and has temporarily removed the download link:
It”s now essential you have a firewall rule installed while playing until Rockstar properly address the new exploits.
Best advised to use @Speyedr_AU”s Guardian!https://t.co/Q9soHTjmeRGTAOnline
– Tez2 (@TezFunz2) January 20, 2023
The download link has been removed until the RCE exploit is removed. I don”t want beginners to use Guardian incorrectly when there is such a huge risk. Please just take a break.
In the community, people are also hoping to force quick developer action by reporting the exploit en masse to support. (On Reddit, a post) describes several ways to bring the problem to Rockstar”s attention.
Help for those affected: If your account is already corrupted, (promises a temporary solution) to help you. You simply have to delete the folder Rockstar Games
in your documents and then start the game again. Rockstar”s support also promises on their website (Help you regain your access).
What else is there to know about GTA Online?
The Winter Update 2022 was released for GTA Online under the title Los Santos Drug Wars. Here you can expect six story missions around a mobile drug lab, a new company, additional features and improvements and, of course, a lot of new cars.
