What's The Vulnerability In EA Arts' Origin Gaming Client That Everyone Is Talking About

Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies and CyberInt has managed to identify a chain of vulnerabilities in the Origin gaming client which is developed by Electronic Arts (EA). Once exploited, the vulnerabilities would have led to player account takeover and identity theft. The vulnerability EA closed could have allowed a threat actor to hijack a player's session, resulting in account compromise and takeover.

The vulnerabilities found in EA's platform did not require the user to hand over any login details whatsoever. Instead, it took advantage of abandoned subdomains and EA Games' use of authentication tokens in conjunction with the OAuth Single Sign-On (SSO) and TRUST mechanism built into EA Games' user login process.

Just to recall, EA is the world's second-largest gaming company and boasts household gaming titles such as FIFA, Madden NFL, NBA Live, UFC, The Sims, Battlefield, Command and Conquer and Medal of Honor in its portfolio. The games leverage the Origin client gaming platform, which allows users to purchase and play EA's games across PC and mobile. Origin contains social features such as profile management, networking with friends via chat, and direct game joining. It also includes community integration with sites such as Facebook, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Network.

CyberInt and Check Point researchers responsibly revealed the vulnerabilities to EA in accordance with coordinated vulnerability disclosure practices to fix the vulnerabilities and roll out an update before threat actors exploit them. They combined their expertise to support EA in developing the fixes to further protect the gaming community.

"EA's Origin platform is hugely popular; and if left unpatched, these flaws would have enabled hackers to hijack and exploit millions of users' accounts," said Oded Vanunu, Head of Products Vulnerability Research for Check Point.

Check Point and CyberInt strongly advise users to enable two-factor authentication and only use the official website when downloading or purchasing games. Parents should create awareness among their children around the threat of online fraud, that cyber criminals will do anything to gain access to personal and financial details, which may be held as part of a gamer's online account. Check Point and CyberInt encourage gamers to always be vigilant when receiving links sent from unknown sources.

With over 300 million users and revenues of around $5 billion EA Games, the world’s second largest gaming company, are exposed to the vulnerabilities. The vulnerability found would have exposed millions of EA gamers globally to account takeover and identity theft.