Over the weekend, game publisher Valve patched a vulnerability that let user accounts have their passwords reset without proper validation.
UK gamer Elm Hoe demonstrated the simple attack in this Youtube Video.
In case you don't have time to watch it, the coding error was simplicity in itself. After the usual “forgot password” preliminaries, a user is supposed to get an e-mail with a reset code, and use that code to take them to the “new password” page.Only: as Hoe showed, the server wasn't validating the codes. If he left the “enter the code” field empty, he could click through to the “new password” page.
Since users can easily see the userid of other players, it was trivial to hijack any other users account.
As he points out, now [that] Valve is aware of the issue, anyone trying the hijack would be risking a permanent ban.
(Score: 2) by pogostix on Monday July 27 2015, @11:26PM
don't worry guys. I just tested SN and we seem to be secure.
Sorry about the password reset EF ;)