Ethical Hacking News
The Great Ricochet Exploit: A Detailed Examination of Activision's Anti-Cheat Hack Fix
Summary:
In a shocking revelation, Activision has confirmed that it has fixed an anti-cheat hack in Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone. However, the problem is far more complex than initially stated, with zebleer claiming that several thousand players were banned by this exploit before anyone started targeting big streamers. As the gaming industry continues to grapple with cheating and exploitation, Activision must take steps to strengthen its anti-cheat systems and prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Anti-cheat hack in Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone has been fixed by Activision, but the problem was more complex than initially stated. The issue was related to a detection system used by the Ricochet anti-cheat system, which could be exploited to target players for bans using specific phrases or messages. A plaintext string in the Ricochet system's scanning process made it vulnerable to this exploit, allowing players to get banned simply by sending a friend request with a specific phrase or posting a message with the string. Several thousand random Call of Duty players were banned using this exploit before Activision acknowledged its existence and fixed the problem. The incident highlights the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between game developers and exploiters, and the need for robust anti-cheat systems to prevent similar exploits in the future.
In a move that has left many players and streamers reeling, Activision has confirmed that it has fixed an anti-cheat hack in Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone. The company claims that the problem, which affected a "small number" of legitimate player accounts, was related to a detection system used by the Ricochet anti-cheat system.
However, the situation is far more complex than Activision's initial statement suggests. According to zebleer, a game cheat seller who has been exploiting this vulnerability for some time, it is possible to target players and streamers for bans simply by sending them a friend request with a specific phrase or posting a message in the game's chat.
This exploit works because of a plaintext string that was included in the Ricochet system's scanning process. When a player's computer was scanned to detect known cheat software, one of the signatures scanned for was this exact string: 54 72 69 67 67 65 72 20 42 6f 74 (Trigger Bot). This means that if a player received a message or made a post with this phrase in their chat, it would be stored in their memory and then flagged by the Ricochet system as suspicious.
Zebleer claims that "for quite some time", players were able to get themselves banned simply by sending a friend request with this phrase or posting a message like "Nice Trigger Bot dude!" in the game's chat. This was not just limited to casual players, either - zebleer estimates that several thousand random Call of Duty players were banned by this exploit before anyone started targeting big streamers with it.
The impact of this exploit was significant enough that even reputable streams, such as BobbyPoff's, were caught up in the bans. Despite maintaining his innocence and facing intense speculation and discussion from fans and fellow streamers, BobbyPoff eventually had his account unbanned after several days.
Despite the widespread nature of this exploit, Activision has only recently acknowledged its existence. The company claims that it was able to identify and fix the problem quickly, but zebleer's account suggests that this may not be entirely accurate. It is clear that Activision was aware of the issue for some time, given the fact that zebleer claims he has been exploiting the vulnerability for "quite some time".
In response to this exploit, Activision has disabled a workaround used by players to evade detection by Ricochet. However, it remains unclear whether this fix will be enough to prevent future exploits or if the company's anti-cheat system is still vulnerable to other forms of manipulation.
The incident highlights the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between game developers and exploiters, with each side constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the other. For Activision, this means re-examining its anti-cheat systems and ensuring that they are robust enough to prevent similar exploits in the future.
In terms of the broader gaming industry, this incident serves as a reminder that cheating is always going to be a problem. Whether it's through game-specific cheats or more general forms of hacking, players will always look for ways to gain an unfair advantage over their peers. It is up to game developers and publishers to stay vigilant and adapt to these challenges in order to maintain the integrity and fairness of online gaming.
For Activision and the wider Call of Duty community, this incident represents a setback, but also an opportunity to improve its anti-cheat systems and prevent similar exploits from happening again. As zebleer so aptly put it: "the game is never going to be completely secure".
Related Information:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/17/24272984/activision-anti-cheat-hack-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-iii-warzone
Published: Thu Oct 17 16:53:54 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
