Valve says CSGO is safe to play despite leaked source code

Reports of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) and Team Fortress 2 (TF2) source code leaking spread across both communities today, creating potential vulnerability risks for players of those games. Followers of the situation nervously awaited a response from Valve, yet the development teams remained tight-lipped for a while. Now we have an update at last — for one of these games, at least.

Valve breaks its silence for CSGO

After a few hours of silence, CSGO Twitter assures the community players aren’t at risk of malicious malware. Rumors circulated that the leaked code made users vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE), which allow a cyber attacker to gain access to a person’s computer without their consent. The spokesperson says the team has diligently reviewed the code, and they have yet to identify any potential security risks. Additionally, Valve will continue monitoring the situation closely. They urge any player or developer to report any information or suspicious behavior to their official security team.

We have reviewed the leaked code and believe it to be a reposting of a limited CS:GO engine code depot released to partners in late 2017, and originally leaked in 2018. From this review, we have not found any reason for players to be alarmed or avoid the current builds.

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) April 22, 2020

We will continue to investigate the situation and will update news outlets and players if we find anything to prove otherwise. In the meantime, if anyone has more information about the leak, the Valve security page (next tweet) describes how best to report that information.

— CS2 (@CounterStrike) April 22, 2020

Team Fortress 2 team still nowhere to be seen

While CSGO fans can finally let out a sigh of relief, the status of Valve’s Team Fortress 2 is still unclear. The source code leaked was from the last major game update. Since then, TF2 has remained relatively unchanged. Furthermore, TF2 is known for being easily accessible and modifiable by even the most amateur software developers. The official Team Fortress 2 development team hasn’t muttered a word since the news broke. It’s not unlike the team to not divulge information, (In fact, their silence is quite fitting.) but the community expects some confirmation or update regarding its safety concerns. The best course of action is for players to steer clear of TF2 until an official statement is released.

Stay with Daily Esports for additional updates on Team Fortress 2 and this unusual situation developing with Valve.