Rockstar has finally responded to the GTA Online PC exploit that was corrupting players’ data worldwide.
Grand Theft Auto V, on the surface, sounds like a fun little story-mode game, but it’s incredibly challenging.
Earning money
and building a virtual life in GTA is no picnic, so players were furious when they noticed their balance was gone and progress had reversed. It wasn’t an in-game bug, but according to Tez2 and other GTA figures, a malicious hacker had exploited their accounts.
On 21 January, GTA Online PC players were warned by community figures to avoid the game entirely as exploits that put their accounts at risk were rampant. These cheats are called “extreme exploits,” and they may go beyond just reversing progress.
“New extreme exploits have appeared, allowing cheaters to remotely add/remove/modify your stats and permanently corrupt your account, aka ban/delete,” Tenz2 revealed.
GTA Online PC exploit causing players to pause play
The developer acknowledged the hack two days after it surfaced online. According to Rockstar, a fix is underway.
“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,”
Rockstar said.
However, serious GTA players are advised to pause play until a fix has been delivered. According to experts, an RCE (Remote code execution) vulnerability in the game client was used by the cheat creator to corrupt accounts. But it’s much more dangerous than that. RCE lets cheaters to code on someone else’s PC, meaning that the hack’s potential is beyond just banning accounts. PC files are also at significant risk if the reports are true.
Those still committed to playing the game have turned to the stringent firewall. A popular one is Guardian, but the exploit is so dangerous that the developer has hidden access.
According to Speyedr, Guardian is still a viable firewall, but one wrong setting or action could result in losing your account or even your PC files. The aim is to prevent novices from tinkering with the software.
The exploit is dangerous because it’s not limited to players within the same server as the cheater. But anyone online in GTA is at risk of being impacted. The exact source of the hack is still unknown, but cautious players are avoiding the social club in its entirety. Meaning many have also stepped away from Red Dead Redemption 2 to prevent touching any adjacent systems that may cause account corruption.
Players must wait till the fix has been delivered in the next update. Until then, it’s best to avoid GTA Online if you’re on PC and value your hard-earned money and progress in the game.
Fariha Bhatti
About Fariha Bhatti
Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.
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