Major GTA Online Exploit Puts Players' Accounts And Data In Danger

It's been a rough day for Grand Theft Auto: Online players on PC as a new exploit has surfaced, allowing cheaters to remotely delete or ban players' profiles and modify their stats. This "partial remote code execution" exploit also enables hackers to alter other players' ranks, place them into badsport lobbies, remove their money or gift them up to $15 million, and reset a player's mission cooldown.

This information was first reported by a notable GTA leaker, Tez2, via Twitter on 20 January 2023, who cautioned players to avoid playing Grand Theft Auto V on PC without a firewall until the issue is resolved. At this time, the exploit does not appear to affect those playing console versions of the game. "This could transform into something much worse to extend beyond a game and affect your PC," Tez2 warned.

It's worth noting that this is not the first time the PC version of the game has been plagued by such issues, with previous exploits allowing cheaters to crash players' games while they were in single-player mode. However, this new exploit takes it to a new level. In particular, hackers can now delete and ban players' online profiles, resulting in the loss of all progress and data associated with the affected profile.

Despite the seriousness of the issue, game developer Rockstar Games has yet to issue a statement or fix for the exploit, leaving players frustrated and concerned. While console players can continue playing the game as normal, PC players are advised to avoid the game until the issue is resolved or take the necessary precautions to protect their data.

That said, there does appear to be a workaround solution against the GTA Online exploit. As detailed in a lengthy Twitter thread by @Speyedr_AU, users can download and use the Guardian firewall to protect themselves. However, the user stressed that "Guardian requires a proper setup to work correctly" and that the program does not violate Rockstar Games' terms of service.

We will endeavor to update you regarding any further developments.