The North American (NA) finals of the ongoing Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) have been pushed back because hackers got into players’ accounts in the middle of a fight.
A lot of people fight in the ALGS tournament series by playing a fast-paced, strategic battle royale game. The series is built around matches, with qualifiers, regional competitions like the NA finals, and important tournaments that build up to a championship event with big prizes.
DarkZero and Luminosity were playing Match 3 of the NA finals when Genburten’s game client suddenly showed a trick tool called “TSM HALAL HOOK.”
The cheat interface appeared out of nowhere on his screen. It had a mix of trick settings and strange references, like “Vote Putin.”
Because of the hack, the player could see where all the other players were on the map, which gave him an unfair edge in the game. He had to quit the game because of this, which meant his team lost one person.
A trick for TSM Halal Hook that showed up in the middle of a match
EA didn’t throw out the match; instead, they stated that Luminosity won on X and moved on to Match 4.
Match 3 concludes with a @Luminosity win. #ALGS pic.twitter.com/KF5o4Ykho4
— Apex Legends Esports (@PlayApexEsports) March 18, 2024
The hacker did it again, this time giving player “ImperialHal” a way to aim. In the end, the game officials stepped in and stopped the match.
Hackers going by the names “Destroyer2009” and “R4ndom” were thought to have done the hacks because their names were shown in Genburten’s chat window while the hack was going on.
Soon after, the official Apex Legends Esports account on X said that the NA playoffs would have to be put off until they could make sure that no one else could mess with the events.
Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time.
We will share more information soon.— Apex Legends Esports (@PlayApexEsports) March 18, 2024
X user ‘Anti-Cheat Police Department’ was later told by someone claiming to be Destroyer 2009 that they broke into the players’ computers by using a remote code execution flaw. The person who is thought to be a danger didn’t say whether the flaw was in the Apex Legends client, the Easy Anti-Cheat software, or some other software.
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A software bug called a remote code execution vulnerability lets an attacker run code on a targeted gadget from afar. Attackers generally use RCE flaws on devices that are connected to the internet to take over systems or add extra payloads.
Many types of software bugs could cause RCE, so there are no set rules for how this can be done. Remote code execution vulnerabilities exist when an attacker from afar, even if that attacker is on the same LAN as you, can make code run on a device.
There are many ideas about how the ALGS hacks happened, such as an RCE bug in the Apex Legends game client, a bug in Easy Anti-Cheat, or the players’ devices being hacked before the matches.
We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed
— Easy Anti-Cheat (@TeddyEAC) March 18, 2024
In a new post today, Easy Anti-Cheat said they are sure their software does not have an RCE bug.
“Recent reports of a possible RCE issue in Easy Anti-Cheat have been looked into,” Easy Anti-Cheat wrote.
We are sure that there isn’t an RCE weakness in EAC that is being used right now. We will keep working closely with our partners to get any extra help we need.
Since the game’s developers haven’t said anything yet, it’s not clear if the people who were affected were hacked before the matches or while they were going on.
No matter how the hacks happened, this is the first time in ALGS history that players have been hacked in the middle of a match, which led to the event being suspended.
