←back to thread

Anticheat Update Tracking

(not-matthias.github.io)
124 points not-matthias | 2 comments | 29 Jun 25 21:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.617s | source
Show context
nulld3v ◴[30 Jun 25 03:24 UTC] No.44419002[source]▶
Very nice walk-through on the reverse engineering process.

Also, they linked this post that made my jaw drop: https://www.unknowncheats.me/forum/anti-cheat-bypass/667333-...

Apparantly BattleEye anti-cheat had an exploit where hackers could permanently ban any player they wanted. BattleEye allowed anybody to log in as a "game server" so hackers simply booted up a fake server, told BattleEye that "player X has logged in and is doing a bunch of suspicious stuff" and then player X's account was no more...

I'm sorry, why do we trust these guys again?

replies(5): >>44419067 #>>44419870 #>>44421138 #>>44421444 #>>44425268 #
AnthonyMouse ◴[30 Jun 25 10:07 UTC] No.44421444[source]▶
It's crazy that people allow this stuff to effectively run as root. One of these companies is going to have a vulnerability that lets other players run code on your machine in kernel mode.
replies(2): >>44422770 #>>44423332 #
pxc ◴[30 Jun 25 13:56 UTC] No.44423332[source]▶
It's kind of amusing to me how some PC gamers act superior to console gamers because PC gamers run their games on a flexible, customizable, general-purpose machine that the user controls rather than an appliance... and then immediately hand over control to half a dozen companies at a level that reduces "their" PC to a vendor-owned appliance anyway.

If you are a PC gamer and run anti-cheat software like this, you should probably think of your gaming PC as a much more powerful and much jankier console, and avoid running or storing anything on it other than your games.

replies(4): >>44425057 #>>44426618 #>>44427165 #>>44431639 #
1. hoseja ◴[01 Jul 25 07:55 UTC] No.44431639[source]▶
> and then immediately hand over control to half a dozen companies at a level that reduces "their" PC to a vendor-owned appliance anyway.

Only when you want to play mainstream anticheat slop.

replies(1): >>44436152 #
2. pxc ◴[01 Jul 25 17:25 UTC] No.44436152[source]▶
A lot of people do! That's what makes it mainstream.

Even though it's not been part of my life for a long time, I would still prefer a world where people can participate in trendy multiplayer games without subjecting themselves to such corporate malware.

But I agree, many games are better and lack this, and a lot of games that rely on nasty anti-cheat software succeed more based on network effects than on intrinsic excellence.

If you game for games' sakes, it's not too painful to avoid games so encumbered, or to cut these from your gaming diet. If you game as a ritual to stay in touch with distant friends, you will probably experience more pressure towards the rootkit-encumbered slop.