In a recent announcement, The Indie Stone, the developer behind the acclaimed survival game Project Zomboid, has alerted players to a significant security concern involving certain mods available on the Steam Workshop. A total of 14 mods have been identified as containing “heavily obfuscated code,” which has been linked to the creation of malicious files outside the game’s directory.
Reports began surfacing from players yesterday, indicating that one of the mods was allegedly generating harmful code when executed. Upon investigation, The Indie Stone confirmed these reports and uncovered a broader issue involving multiple mods uploaded by the same user.
Details of the Exploit
The developer stated, “Further investigation revealed that the same user had uploaded a total of 14 mods, all containing the same exploit.” These mods had been installed on a range of devices, with estimates suggesting between 500 and 2,200 installations. In response to this alarming discovery, the user has been banned, and all affected mods have been promptly removed from the Steam Workshop.
It is important to note that the exploit specifically impacted Build 42 branches of Project Zomboid, which is the game’s current ‘unstable’ testing release. Players who are using Build 41 are not vulnerable to this particular issue, according to the developer’s statement.
While the exact nature of the malicious files remains undetermined, The Indie Stone strongly advises all players who downloaded these mods to take necessary security precautions to safeguard their systems. Simply uninstalling the mods is not deemed sufficient.
List of Affected Mods
For those who utilize mods in Project Zomboid, it is crucial to verify whether you have downloaded any of the following mods, all of which are related to sound or music:
- Risk of Rain 2 OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681934105 Mod ID: RiskOfRain2Music
- Risk of Rain 1 OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681810963 Mod ID: RiskOfRain1Music
- NieR: Automata OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681765529 Mod ID: NierAutomataMusic
- Katana ZERO OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681764942 Mod ID: KatanaZeroMusic
- Persona 5 OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681756112 Mod ID: Persona5Music
- Jujutsu Kaisen S1 OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681755051 Mod ID: JujutsuKaisenMusic
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681719339 Mod ID: HotlineMiami2Music
- Hotline Miami OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681718339 Mod ID: HotlineMiami1Music
- Silent Hill OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681477980 Mod ID: SilentHillMusic
- Cowboy Bebop OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681476976 Mod ID: CowboyBebopMusic
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Vocal Tracks (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681339955 Mod ID: MGRRevengeanceMusic
- Classic Roblox Music (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681335952 Mod ID: RobloxClassicMusic
- DELTARUNE Ch3+4 Music (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3681334251 Mod ID: DeltaruneCh34Music
- Minecraft Alpha+Beta OST (True MoooZIC)
- Workshop ID: 3680972796 Mod ID: MinecraftClassicMusic
