Counter-Strike 2 Cheaters Cancel Losing Matches Using Fake VAC Bans

Cheaters have found a loophole in the security system and are now turning the VAC anti-cheat against the game itself.

A post by a Counter-Strike 2 player named itzsagka recently went viral on social media. They stated that what appears to be “the most BROKEN critical vulnerability” has been discovered:

It seems that players banned by the VAC system are somehow getting onto servers protected by the VAC anti-cheat, AND are reportedly manipulating the VAC Live system to flag other players [as cheaters].

The vulnerability shields the cheater, since the system already considers the malicious actor banned, while also allowing them to manipulate the match outcome. If VAC Live detects a player marked as a “cheater” during a match, it cancels the match results. For example, this method can be used to avoid a loss.

A user named aquaismissing responded to the publication and clarified that these are not actual VAC bans, but fake ones where cheaters deceive the system and edit their profile status:

Right now in Counter-Strike 2, there is a vulnerability that allows malicious actors to fake their status by indicating that they are “VAC banned,” which automatically triggers the VAC Live system to cancel the match.

Essentially, any sufficiently advanced cheater currently has the technical capability to use cheats with impunity and cancel matches in Counter-Strike 2. Players are urging Valve to address this security flaw as soon as possible.

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