I treat all video games like they contain remote code execution.
If you look hard enough I'm quite sure most of them do
Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
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Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#12Keep in mind that this is the same game whose client-update-handshake-dance largely consisted of an enormous JSON of all the updates that had ever been done to the gamestate, which then got parsed naively. This situation was recognized and patched [0] by an interested third party [1].
Not a slight against the code monkey that implemented it that way, because they surely didn't bother to think about complexity consequences when the gamestate was new and the JSON wasn't 10MB yet, but a slight on Rockstar, because the cash cow that GTA:O turned out to be deserves some fuckin' maintenance, doesn't it? Then again, the eye-popping abilities (and prevalence!) of hax0rs in Rockstar games probably ought to signify priorities to even the most casual observer. As others in these comments observe, with what those hackers can achieve, it's not surprising to learn there's RCEs too.
[0] https://github.com/tostercx/GTAO_Booster_PoC
[1] https://nee.lv/2021/02/28/How-I-cut-GTA-Online-loading-times...
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#13Whilst an issue like this can occur with any network architecture, going with Peer-to-peer looks like a terrible decision. 'Never trust the client' and all that. The in-game money cost real money, but the client is trusted so anyone can edit their balance in memory as the game is running. Ridiculous.
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#14Almost every single online game out there that relies on players connecting to each other instead of only a central server is vulnerable to these types of exploits, it's often just a question of finding them. Every once in a while I feel like playing one of the older Call of Duty games on my steam library again, but then I remember that they all have known unfixed RCE exploits.
This is why you rewrite it in Rust \s
But seriously, one of the reasons games should maybe be less C++ and more memory-safe languages, if not Rust then languages like C# or JavaScript. And maybe incorporate formal methods into game-dev. The code which handles server responses should be sufficiently isolated from any of the unsafe code (e.g. rendering), so that you can ideally prove (or non-ideally, at least be very confident) that a server response cannot cause arbitrary code execution.
Maybe it still won't be sufficient against state actors, but it would mean that you can reliably play an old game like you can reliably view a webpage.
I would not be surprised if COD and GTA have remote-code exploits, though.
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#15A remote code execution exploit in GTA 5 Online should not a surprise to anybody who has played GTA 5 Online. Cheaters have been rampant for many years, with people using apparently purchased cheat tools that allow them to choose to do server-side things like drop unlimited money and spawn vehicles anywhere, rapidly cycling through weather changes, and locking people permanently in cages. But get on the bad side of a…
I wouldn't have assumed that a cheater's ability to effect things on a game server would mean they could execute whatever code they wanted on my personal computer unless that server was running on my system. Spawning money and vehicles sound like pretty harmless cheats you'd expect in a game like grand theft auto.
I would assume it. If attacker can send my game arbitrary commands for execution without client side filtering out things like moving my character around (unless context allows it, eg waiting for a mission to start), there are good odds they can cause a buffer overrun and execute code directly too. Games usually aren't in memory-safe languages.
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#16The rumors are correct. This is an out-of-bounds array read/write vulnerability in the multiplayer scripting engine. Even if they patch this one, there are about half a dozen others known already. The only reason why this hasn't yet been turned into an exploit that runs arbitrary code outside of GTA on your computer is that no-one has bothered to do the extra work required for that. Not as far as I know anyway.
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#17A remote code execution exploit in GTA 5 Online should not a surprise to anybody who has played GTA 5 Online. Cheaters have been rampant for many years, with people using apparently purchased cheat tools that allow them to choose to do server-side things like drop unlimited money and spawn vehicles anywhere, rapidly cycling through weather changes, and locking people permanently in cages. But get on the bad side of a…
A RCE in any and all video games should not be a surprise to anyone who took a cursory look at software quality, complexity, and the constraints (and rush) that come with game development.
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#18Almost every single online game out there that relies on players connecting to each other instead of only a central server is vulnerable to these types of exploits, it's often just a question of finding them. Every once in a while I feel like playing one of the older Call of Duty games on my steam library again, but then I remember that they all have known unfixed RCE exploits.
This is why you rewrite it in Rust \s But seriously, one of the reasons games should maybe be less C++ and more memory-safe languages, if not Rust then languages like C# or JavaScript. And maybe incorporate formal methods into game-dev. The code which handles server responses should be sufficiently isolated from any of the unsafe code (e.g. rendering), so that you can ideally prove (or non-ideally, at least be very c…
Microsoft Flight Simulator[1] is a really interesting example, because running code from third parties has been the norm for decades. Custom code for things like airplane instruments was distributed in DLL modules that had full Windows API access (file system, networking, etc) while the game was running. It's obviously a huge security risk.
So for the new version of Flight Simulator, they divided it into core game engine and "content packages" that fill the rest (airplanes, landscape, missions, other assets). Packages get loaded into a virtual file tree[2]. Packages may contain custom code, usually compiled from C++ to WASM, but the code is executed in isolated containers and it does not have access to the underlying file system. It only sees contents of its local package within the virtual file system.
As a result, the shiny airplane you bought from some online marketplace can't read your documents folder and send its contents to remote servers anymore. It remains an issue with many other games where third-party modifications ship as unrestricted DLLs, even on authoritative-looking platforms like Steam Workshop. For example, a pathfinding fix for Command & Conquer on Steam is just a DLL swap[3] - this should make security-concious people very uneasy.
[1] https://docs.flightsimulator.com/html/Programming_Tools/WASM...
[2] https://docs.flightsimulator.com/html/Developer_Mode/Menus/T...
[3] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=21371...
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#19Is it just me or is it impossible to find from this source link any _real details_ about the actual RCE?
* This post claims an RCE being exploited and warns people not to play.
* It links to Rockstar forums where people are warning about the game being exploited but provide no details on the attack vector or indicators of compromise.
* It links to a screenshot of a tweet of some random person again warning not to play but doesn't provide any useful detail.
* The _original source_ linked in this post is a tweet with some screenshots of a mod that clearly indicates some game modifications but says nothing about an RCE.
Can anyone point to an authoritative source with real technical details?
Re: Rumors of GTA online exploits allowing remote code execution on gamer PCs
#20A remote code execution exploit in GTA 5 Online should not a surprise to anybody who has played GTA 5 Online. Cheaters have been rampant for many years, with people using apparently purchased cheat tools that allow them to choose to do server-side things like drop unlimited money and spawn vehicles anywhere, rapidly cycling through weather changes, and locking people permanently in cages. But get on the bad side of a…
> Cheaters have been rampant for many years, with people using apparently purchased cheat tools that allow them to choose to do server-side things like drop unlimited money and spawn vehicles anywhere, rapidly cycling through weather changes, and locking people permanently in cages.
First I ever played with friends, we were driving down a highway, stopped by spikes that killed our tires, and someone spawned bags of money in front of us. I took a few million, logged out, and did not touch GTA till many years later. I remember I also bought cars and apartments with my friend, I figure we didnt have impossible amounts of money, so Rockstar would never ban us, sure enough, we were fine.
I played a year back with the same friend, but despite there being less hackers, I hate not being able to do gameplay more isolated to just friends, even if you lock out some missions.