Fortnite Left Players Open to Account Hijacking, Voice Chat Eavesdropping
Now that it’s the most popular game in the world, Fortnite has become a target for both lawsuits and hackers. Security firm Check Point Software says Fortnite developer Epic Games had a major vulnerability in its system that could have allowed an attacker to play as the victim, purchase items, and even listen to the player’s microphone.
The vulnerability, which Epic Games confirms it has fixed, is part of its website rather than the game client itself. Like many hacks, it begins with getting the target to click on a malicious link. The attacker’s site doesn’t have to deposit any malware on the system, though. All it has to do is copy the Fortnite login token.
When you’re logged into an online service, your computer most likely has a token that tells the page you are logged in. However, Epic’s account pages are not validated. That means a third-party site like the one designed by Check Point Software can access it. Check Point used a bit of custom JavaScript code to grab the token of any Fortnite players who landed on the page. You can see the hack in action below.
With the login token, it’s a simple matter to launch Fortnite with the victim’s profile. The server sees the hacker’s computer as the same session that was open when the victim clicked on the malicious link. The hacker essentially is you on Fortnite, which gives them a great deal of control.
With access to a Fortnite account, the attacker can spend lavishly on virtual currency to drain your bank account. They can also play the game as you, but that would only cause you grief if they were particularly bad at the game or misbehaved in order to get you banned. Since Fortnite thinks the attacker is you, they also would have access to your voice chat content. That includes the ability to listen in on conversations you’re having via the microphone.
This is not the first time Epic had an embarrassing lapse in security. Shortly after it launched its Android build outside the Play Store, Google noted that the Fortnite installer app could be tricked into loading malware instead of the game. The developer has fixed the hole that allowed extraction of the login token. It also points out all gamers should have two-factor authentication turned on for their accounts.
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