This Week In Security: GTA, Apple And Android, And Insecure Boot
When we first saw tweets about a security issue in Grand Theft Auto V, it sounded a bit like a troll. “Press ‘alt and f4’ to unlock a cheat mode”, or the hacker that claims to be able to delete your character. [Tez2]’s warning tweet that you shouldn’t play GTA Online without a firewall sounds like another of these online urban legends. But this one actually seems legit. NIST is even in on the fun, assigning CVE-2023-24059 for the exploit.
When playing an online game, other users send a “join request” to join the active session. This packets can contain malformed data which has been observed to crash the game client remotely. It’s believed, though not publicly confirmed, that it’s also a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability. It seems likely that this aspect will be added to some of the various cheat panels that are already widely used for this 10-year-old game. So now, rather than just giving your own character infinite ammo and health, you can inflict some havoc on other players, possibly up to corrupting their character files and getting them banned.
But why stop there? If we have code execution inside the game, what stops another player from launching a real attack? A video game isn’t sandboxed like a browser, and there’s nothing preventing a disk wiper attack or even a worm from compromising a bunch of players. The worst part is that it’s an old game, and even though there’s a large playerbase, it’s not guaranteed to get a fix. There’s at least one project aiming to be a firewall to prevent the issue.
XNU’s 19 and 20 year old Bugs
[Adam Doupé] seems to have a knack for finding old bugs in Apple’s code, and this time it’s a pair of really old flaws in Apple’s kernel, XNU. The first is an issue in dlil.c, the network interface handler. This issue is a type casting error, where an int is cast to a uint_16. If that cast overflows, the value becomes a large negative number, and the subsequent data write underflows the buffer and writes out-of-bounds. The method to trigger this one is a bit tricky, as it requires creating 65536 network interfaces.
There are two approaches to triggering that condition. The first is the simplest, a tiny script running as root, that calls ifconfig repeatedly to create the interfaces. While that could be interesting as part of an exploit chain, the more interesting idea is to make a malicious USB dongle that presents itself as multiple network interfaces. The rest of the post is [Adam]’s attempt to turn the underflow into an exploit. He didn’t quite pull it off, but it looks like it’s possible.
The second bug is even older, a 20 year old flaw in XNU’s ndrv.c, the raw socket handler. It’s an edge case where a linked list with two members get improperly walked, one of the list members is freed, but the parent item still contains a pointer to the now-freed memory. Both bugs have now been fixed in the latest iOS and macOS releases.
Android (ARM) Too
Android isn’t one to be left out, with a great writeup from [Man Yue Mo] of Github Security Lab, about a problem in the Arm Mali GPU shipped as part of Pixel 6 devices.
With great irony, we are told of how the one non-Google element in the all-Google phone led to kernel-space exploitation from within an app. Specifically, it’s the driver for that GPU, and how it handles JIT memory, which is memory segments that are managed by the kernel, and accessed by userspace and directly by the GPU. And as you might expect, having three different components accessing memory at once can cause problems.
In this case, the problem is how eviction is handled. Those chunks of memory get processed, and then can be returned to the free store. A performance optimization by the driver is to keep memory buffers “warm”, not actually asking the kernel to free them, and skipping the allocation process when the next request is needed. The problem is that memory in this limbo state is considered “evictable”, and the kernel can free those regions without doing so through the GPU driver. This leave the system in an odd state where the GPU driver and userspace still have valid pointers to a memory location, but the kernel has marked it free.
The real fun begins when the freed memory location is claimed by an attacking process, and a fake JIT object put in its place. By some clever memory manipulation, this can be leveraged to produce a userspace mapping of kernel code, which can then be read and written. And the simplest step from there is to just modify the userspace application, making it run as root.
It’s a clever find, but what really stands out is the problem with getting it fixed. This was reported to Android engineers in July of 2022, and a few weeks later the report was closed as a “Won’t fix” issue. There is a legitimate point here, that it’s not Android code that contains the problem, and this needed to be fixed in the ARM driver. ARM issued an update that fixed the issue less than three months later, in August of 2022. A coordinated disclosure was scheduled with ARM for November, but it seems the Android engineers completely dropped the bug, and waited til the January update to finally ship the patch to Android users.
And when it finally came, it was tracked as a different bug altogether, meaning the original report was closed and forgotten about. It’s a bit disheartening to see Google show such a flippant attitude toward a vulnerability of this severity, on their own product.
KSMBD Again
It’s beginning to look like a bad idea to put the Server Message Block Daemon driver in the Linux kernel, as we have another pre-auth integer underflow leading to denial of service. Researchers at Sysdig found the flaw this time, researching based on the previous ZDI-22-1690, which was a more serious RCE in the same kernel module. This one is a bit different from other integer underflows we’ve looked at. The wrap-around nature of integers instead saves this vulnerability from being a more serious one.
The real problem is that during SMB authentication, the data structure from the remote user contains a pair of length values, which are used to parse the incoming authentication data. It’s obvious that these values aren’t implicitly trusted, and some good error checking is done to prevent a trivial buffer overflow.
The case that trips us up is when nt_len is less than CIFS_ENCPWD_SIZE, and the resulting value is negative. When this negative integer is cast to the unsigned size_t in a memcpy() call, the negative integer is “unwrapped” to a nearly max-value size_t. The memory copy function will attempt the instruction, but this is a rather uncontrolled operation, and eventually reaches inaccessible memory, and panics the kernel. So far there doesn’t seem to be a way to turn this particular flaw into a true RCE. And besides, after this many years, surely everyone knows not to expose an SMB service to untrusted users, right?
Insecure Boot
While Secure Boot hasn’t quite proven to be the dystopian PC lock-in that some of us feared, it’s still occasionally a pain to deal with while trying to fix something on a broken machine. Need a custom boot disk to run a tool? Yep, time to disable secure boot. But there’s a few cases where it’s helpful, like preventing boot malware from getting a toe-hold in an encrypted system.
There’s maybe something to be said for a known quantity like secure boot.
Which is why it’s a bit odd to find that MSI decided to compromise it en masse on their desktop motherboards in a firmware update pushed out last January. And do note, MSI didn’t turn off secure boot. Check the firmware settings, or run mokutil --sb-state, and these machines would happily inform you that Secure Boot was still enabled. But an obscure firmware setting, “Image Execution Policy” is set to “Always Execute” — so Secure Boot would still check the signature on the boot stack, and then boot it regardless of what was found. I’ll just quote the discoverer, [Dawid Potocki]’s conclusion: “Don’t trust that whatever security features you enabled are working, TEST THEM!”
QT’s RCE
Vulnerability Bug
The QT suite has an issue, where Javascript embedded in QML (Qt Modeling Language) code could trigger one of two memory handling issues, and achieve RCE. There’s a bit of disagreement between Cisco Talos and QT, as to whether this is a simple bug, or security vulnerability.
QML code is explicitly intended to be user interface code for applications, and should never execute untrusted code. In fact, according to QT, the security vulnerability would be any “application that is passing untrusted input to QtQml”.
Best GTA 5 Cheats Codes, Money, Phone numbers for PC
Are you looking for all the cheats of GTA 5 for PC? you have come to the right place! And it is that although a decade has passed since the launch of Rockstar’s incombustible sandbox, Grand Theft Auto V continues to be one of the most fun and challenging games on the market. If you want to get all the cars, motorcycles, weapons or infinite money, keep reading. And it is that thanks to these codes, there will be no robbery that will resist you.
In today’s article we are going to share with you the complete list of all the tricks and secrets of GTA V for PC. But that is not all. You will also find all the GTA Online codes! Ready to wreak havoc in Los Santos?
How to enter codes in GTA 5 for PC
There are two methods to activate Grand Theft Auto 5 codes and cheats.
The first of them is activating the game console and then entering the code that accompanies each trick, always in capital letters. Don’t know how to activate the console in GTA V? It’s very simple, just press the º or ~ key depending on the type of keyboard you have.
The second method may be easier. Simply open the mobile menu at any time during the game and enter the phone number that corresponds to each trick. Once you make the call, the cheat will be activated.
Tricks to get all the cars and vehicles in GTA 5
As usual in the saga, Grand Theft Auto V has an authentic fleet of cars with which you can burn asphalt throughout the San Andreas region. Below you will find the codes and tricks to summon all the vehicles available in the game. Keep in mind that you will need to unlock some of them for these cheats to work.
| Vehicle | Console code | Mobile code |
| Acrobatics plane | BARNSTORM | 1-999-2276-78676 |
| Duster fumigar plane | FLYSPRAY | 1-999-359-77729 |
| BMX bike | BANDIT | 1-999-226-348 |
| Trashmaster garbage truck | TRASHED | 1-999-872-7433 |
| Caddy golf stroller | HOLEIN1 | 1-999-4653-46-1 |
| Comet sports car | COMET | 1-999-266-38 |
| Rapid GT sports car | RAPIDGT | 1-999-727-4348 |
| Buzzard helicopter | BUZZOFF | 1-999-289-9633 |
| Limousine | VINEWOOD | 1-999-846-39663 |
| PCJ-600 motorcycle | ROCKET | 1-999-762-538 |
| Moto Sánchez | OFFROAD | 1-999-633-7623 |
| Parachute | SKYDIVE | 1-999-759-3483 |
| Dodo HydroAvion (it is necessary to unlock it first)) | EXCTINC | 1-999-398-4628 |
| Kraken submarine (it is necessary to unlock it first) | BUBBLES | 1-999-282-2537 |
| Duke O’Death (it is necessary to unlock it first) | DEATHCAR | 1-999-3328-4227 |
Tricks to get more health and be invincible in GTA 5
If you want to avoid death, recover life or simply regenerate your shield, do not hesitate to try these codes:
| Effect | Console code | Mobile code |
| Invincibility | PAINKILLER | 1-999-724-654-5537 |
| Health and armoring to the maximum | TURTLE | 1-999-887-853 |
Tricks to have all the weapons in the game and infinite ammunition in GTA 5
To succeed in Los Santos you will not only need to arm yourself to the teeth.
With these codes you will get all the weapons and improve their ammunition.
| Effect | Console code | Mobile code |
| All weapons and infinite ammunition | TOOLUP | 1-999-8665-87 |
| Fire bullets | INCENDIARY | 1-999-462-363-4279 |
| Explosive bullets | HIGHEX | 1-999-444-439 |
Tricks to get special powers in GTA 5
Would you like Michael, Franklin or Trevor to have special powers? Now you can thanks to these codes.
| Effect | Console code | Mobile code |
| Recharge skills | POWERUP | 1-999-769-3787 |
| Supersalt | HOPTOIT | 1-999-467-86-48 |
| Running faster | CATCHME | 1-999-228-8463 |
| Swimming faster | GOTGILLS | 1-999-468-44557 |
| Explosive blows | HOTHANDS | 1-999-4684-2637 |
| Fallen from the sky | SKYFALL | 1-999-759-3255 |
Tricks to change the weather, the camera and the mobile phone in GTA 5
Tired of the fact that the sun always shines in Los Santos? Would you like to move by leaps and bounds as if you were on the moon? Enjoy these cool various cheats that will change the way you move around the environment!
| Effect | Console code | Mobile code |
| Drunk mode | LIQUOR | 1-999-547-867 |
| Slow motion | SLOWMO | 1-999-756-966 |
| Get the Black Cellphone | 1-999-367-3767 | |
| Change the weather | MAKEITRAIN | 1-999-625-348-7246 |
| Aim in slow motion | DEADEYE | 1-999-332-3393 |
| Lunar gravity | FLOATER | 1-999-356-2837 |
| Sliding cars | SNOWDAY | 1-999-766-9329 |
Tricks to change the police wanted level in GTA 5
The LSPD can be a real nuisance so… Why don’t you get rid of her? With these tricks you will have the Los Santos police at your mercy.
| Effect | Console code | Mobile code |
| Decrease the search level | LAWYERUP | 1-999-5299-3787 |
| Increase the search level | FUGITIVE | 1-999-3844-8483 |
How to Unlock the Seaplane, Submarine, Duke O’Death, Tractor, Hot Rod ATV, and Spaceship
Not all vehicles in GTA V can be summoned directly by entering a code. Some of them, like the seaplane, submarine or the Duke O’Death require you to complete a mission first. Here we explain how to do it.
How to Unlock the Dodo Seaplane
The Dodo seaplane is one of the most versatile vehicles in GTA 5, as it allows both to fly through the air and to land on land or water. To unlock it, you will first need to complete the quest “nervous rum” with Trevor in campaign mode.
Once this is done, go to the point that appears in the following image.
The seaplane will appear in a random event at the inlet of the Ron Alternatives Wind Farm. In order to approach and activate said event, it is necessary that you approach the area in a boot or jet ski. Once the Dodo appears on the map, shoot the gunmen that appear on the boats and escape in the seaplane.
How to Unlock the Kraken Submarine
To unlock the Kraken Submarine, you will first need to complete the quest “wild challenge“. In it you must take photos of 20 different animals without having filters or borders and, of course, that are not a selfie. Once this is done you can find the Kraken submarine in Cape Catfish.
How to Unlock Duke O’Death
To unlock the Duke O’Death vehicle you will need to complete the duel available after your first encounter with Tonya Wiggins. After that, you will find the vehicle in a junkyard south of Burro Heights or in the Gran Senora desert east of Harmony.
How to Unlock the Hot Rod ATV
If you want to unlock the Hot Rod ATV for Trevor, you will need to complete all the missions in the game first. It is not an easy task… But yes very funny!
How to Unlock the Epsilon Tractor
To get this spectacular tractor in various locations in the game, first of all it is necessary to complete the last Epsilon mission without stealing any car or killing anyone.
How to Unlock the Spaceship (Space Docker)
If you want to get this peculiar spaceship, you will first need to recover its 50 pieces that are scattered throughout the map.
How to get the Canis Mesa in GTA 5
Would you like to keep this spectacular 4×4? In theory it is not possible, but thanks to this trick you will be able to enjoy the Canis Mesa whenever you want in GTA 5. To do this, access mission 69 of the game and escape with the Canis Mesa, Do not go on the road and drive on the path to the left until you go down the hill.
You will see that a helicopter is chasing you, which you must avoid. Get to the garage at Michael’s house and park the car. After that, use any other vehicle to complete the mission. The Canis Mesa is now yours forever!
How to get fast money in GTA 5
We are sorry to tell you that there is no code with which you can get infinite money in GTA 5. However, that does not mean that you cannot get money quickly and easily. Just follow these tricks:
- Invest in the stock market and then manipulate it to your advantage
- Steal high-end cars and then sell them
- Find nuclear barrels of toxic waste, which are worth $23,000 each
- Find submerged briefcases filled with money
- Steal armored cars
- Return the bike to the boy who lost it (100000$ reward)
- Save Sonny’s daughter
- Complete Lester’s missions
- Buy a business
- Rob a store.
How to get money in GTA Online
If you have already finished the campaign mode and have made the jump to GTA Online, keep reading because this interests you.
And it is that there are also some tricks with which to get money quickly and easily from the online multiplayer of GTA 5. Just follow these tips:
- Complete missions in GTA Online
- Rob stores
- Steal luxury cars and then sell them
- Complete heists
- Buy a business
- Complete bounty hunter missions
- Perform illegal jobs
- Search for all collectibles on the map
- Play Rockets vs Insurgents
Tired of GTA 5? Very soon will be the release of GTA 6
After years and years of Grand Theft Auto V, it is normal for us to want a change of scenery. Fortunately, Rockstar has already confirmed a new installment of the saga. But when will be the release of GTA 6? The date is still a mystery, but we do know that it will be available for PC and next-generation consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series S/X)
Rumors suggest that the release date of Grand Theft Auto 6 will be during 2024 and 2025, so there is little less left to enjoy the new Rockstar sandbox.
Let’s wait it’s time!
How to install GTA 5 on Xbox 360 and try to play without problems
Information that may be useful for those users who have problems installing a game disc from GTA 5 on Xbox 360.
that Blu-ray support is not provided for the Xbox 360, because for this console the GTA 5 game was released on two DVDs, one of which is a game, and the second is an installation DVD.
However, many users who received the toy ahead of time failed to install GTA 5 on the Xbox 360. Basically, the bug is observed on consoles from 2006-2008.
The problem has grown to unacceptable proportions, and in this regard, the other day Rockstar even had to make an official statement and recommend gamers not to install a game disc with the game.
So, while the developers were deciding on the options for «resolving» the current situation, the more advanced part of the gaming community started looking for an opportunity to fix the existing bug on their own.
Don’t miss: HOW TO SPAW SPECIAL VEHICLES IN GTA V: A FEW CHEATS [ARCHIVE]
However, the initial result of such searches turned out to be quite expected: it is still impossible to install a game disc from GTA 5 on the Xbox 360 (yet), because there will be problems in the form of low frame rates, graphics errors and other «joys».
But they can also be avoided.
Firstly , for this, instead of installing the Play disc on the console, you can install it on another storage device, for example, on a 16-gigabyte flash drive, after deleting all installation data from the console and clearing its cache.
As a result, it turns out something like this:
Secondly, , Xbox Support specialists also managed to give their recommendations. Frankly, the measures offered by Xbox Support are more like some kind of witchcraft, however, they say they help in some cases.
In general, you should try. So:
1. Delete all GTA 5 data
2. Clear the Xbox 360 system cache three times (i.e. 3 times in a row)
3. Delete the Marketplace folder from disk
4. Unplug console from power for 3 minutes
5. Install GTA 5 Disc 1 on Xbox 360.
6. Unplug console and never try to install Disc 2.
7. Restart.
8. Install GTA 5 Disc 2 on Xbox 360 .
9. Play (with the hope that there will be no more bugs).
Here is such a «shamanism», but until the official patch, the developers have not yet offered anything more effective.
Don’t miss this: IF GTA ONLINE WRITES «…Failed to Download Files»
no bugs. Some gamers who, after downloading the game from PSN and trying to play it, found an error, namely “error code 80029564”.
They say that it has already been fixed, and in order not to see this again, you just need to download GTA 5 from PSN again.
However, Sony warned that error 80029564 may occur due to server overload, so it makes sense to wait out the traditional hype and download the game a little later.
In addition, it is also recommended to restart the modem and router (turn it off and on again) and reconnect them to the PlayStation 3 console in a new way. So far.
Grand Theft Auto V General Discussions
Why I hate GTA V Online!
Recently started playing GTA V Online. Yes, we can say that the multiplayer is interesting and varied, a lot of different types of missions: shootouts, racing, hobbies, transportation missions, robberies. A lot of interactive: buying real estate, transport, customizing characters and much more.
BUT!
How terrible this multiplayer is organized by Rockstar.
Here are a few highlights that make me hit Alt+F4 every time and forget about this game for another week:
1. Downloads for any reason.
— Saw an invitation to the Pacific Standard robbery, decided to join and earn some money? No matter how, this session already has the maximum number of players.
Do you want to queue? Okay, borrow or don’t borrow, still wait for the next download to return to your game.
— Tired of long downloads? Do you want to surf the Internet at this time or sit in the incentive, write an angry post about multiplayer while the download is in progress? Good luck, the download will take until you’re stuck in the active game window like a fool. And only if you open the game, after a few minutes it will stop. And now I am writing this post, and the download does not think to stop.
— It’s not really long, it’s just another endless download. Do you remember at the university they talked about plus infinity? This is about GTA Online. Very often, after completing the next mission or switching to another session, you will end up in an endless loading screen. Which in 20 minutes, or after the second coming, will inform you that the connection is lost. In the meantime, look at the landscape of Los Santos for these 20 minutes and yell in the chat that you hate this game.
And believe me, I am writing this not from Muhosransk with dial-up, but from honest 100 megabits and ping within 50.
2. Lobby-lobby-lobby.
— Do you want to go through the next preparatory stage for the robbery? Go eat some more of those soft French buns and have some tea. After all, you will have to wait another 20 minutes and stare at the screen on which nothing happens until the super-algorithm of the game picks up stupid associates for you.
3. Exit of the players from the mission.
Well, okay, Rockstar rewarded you for your patience and you finally start the heist, you have already developed a plan, explained to your comrades what and how to do and… and… one of them left the game.
You thought you’d be taken back to the lobby. to get a new friend? Oh well. Everything, the end of the mission, WASTE! Gather the lobby again within 20 minutes and pray that this time your comrades will have the patience.
4. No groups/parties, etc.
Playing with a friend and want to compete with them? Do you even belong to the same clan or motorcycle club, and Rockstar honestly states that you will definitely play in the same team? NO! Very often you will find yourself on the opposite side of the barricades.
And the best thing is when some genius moves to your team and you are transferred to another team. Mmmmm how I love this.
5. Search for players.
I don’t know exactly how the player search algorithm works. But I think. that he does not send out this invitation to hundreds of thousands of players who play GTA. And it’s just 20 people who don’t even plan to join your mission. Why can’t it be done that if some refused, then the invitation is sent to another session, and then to another one? If that is how it is done. then according to some very strange algorithm.
Or even better. when you just do not have the opportunity to invite users to the next mission.
6. Cheaters.
I don’t think it’s worth going into this, it’s understandable. But the problem is that cheaters are found VERY, well, VERY often. It would be nice if they could just see through walls or auto-aim like in most multiplayer games. So no, in GTA they are just session gods who can do anything with you. Send you to repeat the exploits of Yuri Gagarin, or put a cow on your head, or a safe, or something else.
That’s how it is guys. Well, this post is not just another whining. I have several suggestions for solving these problems that I would like to discuss with you. Let’s go in order again:
1. About downloads:
Of course, they cannot be avoided between missions. But why doesn’t Rockstar make it so we can join a ONE MISSION by invitation without leaving the current session. I know about the «on call» function, but as far as I understand, it attaches to a random mission of a certain type. Or am I wrong?
Then you wouldn’t have to reload several times because the session is busy or for some other reason.
Why not add a «Join another session» button to the loading screen so that in case of an endless loading you can do at least something other than Alt+F4.
2. About the lobby.
Maybe you shouldn’t make the lobby full screen? Can make a small window during the game that will show how many people have joined your mission while you ride around the city and do all sorts of garbage. Isn’t it possible to implement this? I doubt. But when 4 players are not taken, then already move everyone to the Lobby, where we will choose equipment, difficulty, etc.
3. About leaving the mission.
Player left the mission? If it does not perform some unique function. let me finish this mission with the three of us. If without the 4th in any way. well, move us to the Lobby and pick up the 4th player, without restarting the mission or worse, terminating this mission.
4. Make a party, as in all normal games, so that my friends and I always have the choice to be on the same team.
