CoD ban exploit might actually be much worse than Activision says

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent navigating the digital battlefields of Call of Duty, I can’t help but feel a mix of frustration and concern upon hearing about this latest exploit affecting RICOCHET anti-cheat system. The fact that cheaters can ban any player without even being in the same lobby is not just unfair, it’s downright bizarre.

A potentially harmful new trick exploiting Call of Duty, allowing cheaters to unfairly ban users without cause, might pose a more significant threat than Activision currently admits.

In October, just before the release of Black Ops 6, popular content creator BobbyPoff was given a permanent ban, which came as a surprise since he had never been accused of cheating.

Indeed, according to the developers’ findings, the issue stemmed from an abuse of the RICOCHET anti-cheat system. This exploit enables dishonest players to wrongfully ban innocent gamers, even when they aren’t playing together in the same game lobby.

Despite Activision’s statement that just a few accounts were involved, a vigilant anti-cheat agency suggests that the issue could be more extensive than the developer is currently disclosing.

Over the last seven days, two distinct vulnerabilities in RICOCHET and BattleEye systems have been disclosed. These loopholes enable misusers to indefinitely ban any player at their discretion. It’s important to note that these exploits could potentially affect any game relying on the corresponding anti-cheat software.
— Anti-Cheat Police Department 🕵️ (@AntiCheatPD) October 18, 2024

Last week, Anti-cheat PD shared information about two distinct vulnerabilities in RICOCHET and BattlEye. These vulnerabilities enable unscrupulous users to ban any player they choose indefinitely. It’s important to note that these exploits could potentially affect any game utilizing the corresponding anti-cheats.

In games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Grand Theft Auto Online, BattleEye is employed. As per zebleer’s assessment, a greater number of users were impacted than the “small number” Activision stated. Some GTA players even took a temporary break due to the issuance of bans.

Zebleer revealed a write-up from the founder of the exploit who explained: “For quite some time it has been possible to get people permanently banned by sending them a friend request or posting a message (“Nice Trigger Bot dude!”) in game chat.”

They stated that numerous thousands of Call of Duty players, at random, had been banned due to this exploit prior to the streamers becoming the focus.

CoD ban exploit might actually be much worse than Activision says

Activision has begun the process of lifting bans on accounts that were wrongly penalized due to an exploit, however, it’s important to note that legitimate cheaters who were flagged using these signatures may also be unbanned. Additionally, it appears that Ricochet’s claims about the number of affected users might not accurately reflect the scale of the issue.

On October 18th, Activision shared a blog discussing enhancements to their RICOCHET system for Black Ops 6. They stated that they aim to identify and eliminate cheaters in less than an hour from their initial gameplay session, with an emphasis on increasing detection efforts.

In the ongoing battle against those who cheat, we’ll need to assess whether this exploit could cause significant issues when Black Ops 6 is released.

2024-10-18 19:18

CoD ban exploit might actually be much worse than Activision says

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