GTA Online For PC Receives Update To Fix Security Exploits

Update: A patch was released for GTA Online on February 1 that addressed the security issues, including players being kicked out of a game or having stats altered by a third-party actor.

Grand Theft Auto Online is currently undergoing a security breach caused by exploits affecting the PC version. Rockstar-Games-focused account TezFunz2 tweeted on Friday that the exploits can allow cheaters to remotely add, remove, and modify other peoples' stats. This, potentially, could also lead to accounts being permanently corrupted, which can cause a ban or deleted profiles.

In a Reddit thread, which has become quite popular during the past few days, user PapaXan asks people to help in mass reporting the issue to Rockstar Support. Many players have been sharing their experiences on Reddit and elsewhere, pointing out that enabling a firewall to play is mandatory. That being said, it's recommended to avoid playing altogether to avoid any issues.

Aside from the in-game cost of compromised accounts, TezFunz2 also pointed out that the exploit could let users affect PCs with malware and other accesses. This is thanks to a discovery from Speyedr, who developed a firewall tool for Grand Theft Auto 5 called Guardian. While this new exploit doesn't seem to bypass Guardian, there is a chance that inexperienced players could install the firewall incorrectly, allowing access to the exploit by mistake. "In the meantime, take a break and/or play something else," Speydr recommends.

User Fluuffball tweeted a video example of how an account being corrupted looks in-game. Basically, you end up being stuck in the "clouds" indefinitely when trying to join a game, with the camera overlooking the city. According to TezFunz2, "Rockstar is aware" of the exploit, and has been logging any affected accounts before the exploits started happening.

Players that were affected should join PapaXan's request and explain their situation in the hopes of having their accounts restored once the developer patches up the exploits, but this is yet to be confirmed as part of the future solution. In the meantime, Rockstar opened up a job listing for a cheat software analyst over at LinkedIn on Friday, but it seems more like accidental timing rather than being directly related to the recent issues.