The gaming community is alarmed: the 2017 source code of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2 has been leaked.
Although it is an outdated model, the source code of Valve titles CS:GO and TF2 has been made available online for some time now. This gives CS:GO fans as well as hackers the chance to rebuild and modify the games and find weaknesses in the code. At least this is what "2Eggss", an "ethical" hacker and Steamworks developer, reports.
Although hackers have had the opportunity to get hold of such or similar data before, depending on their skills, the source code is now being made public. Anyone can download it and do whatever they want with it. No matter how good the anti-cheat software is, it could have bad consequences.
The consequences of the source code leak
It still sounds very theoretical, but when you look at things like an RCE (Remote Code Execution) exploit for Team Fortress 2, it can make your heart skip a beat. This could lead to using the computer of a player who is logged into the game. Not the best prospect in the world for sure.
"Don't play Team Fortress now. There are some RCE exploits in the engine," warns 2Eggss.
There’s some speculation that the source code leaks came as motivation to get Valve to release the long-awaited Source 2 engine update. As if Valorant is not enough motivation to improve CS:GO.
Valve react to the leak
Valve spoke up immediately, saying there is no reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds. They advised their player base to stick to the official CS:GO servers until the case is resolved, for greater security.
We have reviewed the leaked code and believe it to be a reposting of a limited CS:GO engine code depot released to partners in late 2017, and originally leaked in 2018. From this review, we have not found any reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds.
— CS:GO (@CSGO) April 22, 2020
The corporation insists that the leak isn’t a big deal and would hardly be of any major help for potential ill-intended people, but it’s still a rather sticky situation to be in. If we actually get Source 2 quicker because of this… totally worth it! For more CS:GO news, keep it here at EarlyGame.
