Call of Duty hacker claims exploit let them falsely ban thousands of Warzone & MW3 players

As a seasoned gamer who’s been through numerous Call of Duty iterations, I can’t help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration reading about this latest saga with Vizor, the mischievous hacker who managed to exploit the Ricochet anti-cheat system in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.


A hacker claims to have exploited an issue in Call of Duty’s Ricochet anti-cheat system, resulting in the wrongful banning of “thousands upon thousands” of Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone players.

Last month, Activision reported and subsequently fixed an exploit that inadvertently banned a modest group of genuine players. Initially, it was believed by many that this issue affected only a small number of players, but according to the hacker known as Vizor, the scope could be much wider than initially suspected.

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Vizor pointed out the ease of their approach, stating that they might have operated unnoticed for quite some time. They explained, “If I had focused on ordinary players and avoided any high-profile targets, this activity could have continued without drawing attention.

It turned out that the alleged hack was surprisingly simple in its execution. Vizor found that Ricochet was searching for predefined text phrases used to identify cheaters. By sending targeted messages with these particular phrases, Vizor managed to set off automatic ban responses.

Call of Duty hacker claims exploit let them falsely ban thousands of Warzone & MW3 players

For example, consider the term “trigger bot,” which is a typical form of cheating software that instantly discharges a weapon once a target is within the scope’s view.

To make the greatest effect, Vizor devised a program that would autonomously enter games, post specific commands, then depart, continuously doing so to prompt further bans.

The hacker shared that they strategically intensified their disruptive actions whenever the Ricochet anti-cheat group introduced fresh trigger words. Whenever a novel term was discovered, they’d exploit it heavily to give the impression that Ricochet was identifying genuine cheaters.

It’s believed that the trick employed by Ricochet remained undetected until a hacker, Zeebler, brought it to light on Twitter/X, thereby notifying Activision about the problem.

In the end, they corrected the issue and lifted the bans on the impacted gamers, as Vizor concluded by remarking, “It was satisfying to witness the resolution, and I enjoyed myself.

On November 14, the debut of Call of Duty’s Season 1 is set. Take a look at all the new features arriving in Black Ops 6 and Warzone!

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2024-11-10 17:48