GTA Online source code allegedly stolen, offered for private sale

Substantial content from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI was recently leaked online, against the wishes of its developer, Rockstar Games. In the wake of these developments, the leaker also announced that they are in possession of the source code for its prequel, Grand Theft Auto V.

Related: Rockstar wants Grand Theft Auto 6 “to set creative benchmarks for all entertainment”

While a total of 90 gameplay clips of Grand Theft Auto VI have been exposed to the public at this point, the hacker in question reportedly acquired more significant and potentially damaging trade secrets. Gaining access to Rockstar’s Slack servers through a phishing link, they allegedly stole “GTA 5 and 6 source code and assets” from the development team.

The hacker, going by the alias of “Tea Pot,” also stated that they were willing to make a deal — with Rockstar or otherwise — in exchange for the code that they have obtained. In regards to the illicit sale of Grand Theft Auto V’s source code, Tea Pot shared in a private message that they would not be accepting “offers under 5 [figures]” for the code.

For some, $100,000 may seem like too steep of a price to pay for the ill-gotten property. However, one such buyer was scammed out of that amount in a bitcoin deal by an unrelated third party claiming to be Tea Pot. If this scam deal is to be believed, it means that a market certainly exists for people wanting to backdoor develop for Grand Theft Auto V.

This type of code could potentially leave the last-generation title susceptible to remote code execution, or RCE. In an online game environment, RCE can allow malicious actors to run equally malicious code on another player’s machine. For players of GTA Online, this can leave your computer and your personal data exposed to these malicious actors whenever you play in a public lobby.

Until this issue is resolved by Rockstar, we recommend against logging into GTA Online for the sake of your safety.