CSGO August 17 patch fails to remove game-breaking wallhack exploit

A new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch was shipped on August 17, with players hoping it would contain a fix for a game-breaking wallhack exploit that can get around VAC. However, their prayers haven’t been answered.

A new wallhack exploit has been doing the rounds in CS:GO over the last week. It exploded in popularity after YouTuber ‘Sparkles’ shared details with players back on August 12.

The new exploit is a varied version of the old one, which allowed players to boot up CS:GO without vpk files active. Players could then overwrite certain files to break the game, giving them wallhacks, boosted sound, and more.

Now, rather ironically, the exploit is even easier to use. It can bypass the “sv_pure” command needed to get onto matchmaking, is easier to do, and has more power. All you have to do is create your own custom vpk files for CS:GO and replace the old ones.

There are a ton of values you can alter in the vpk files. You can change how sound works, making it easier to hear opponents. Smokes won’t render if you choose so. You can even make their entire player models show through walls ⁠— giving you the world’s best wallhack.

• Read more: Hackers are “abusing” CSGO’s Overwatch system to manipulate bans

Then, after creating a keybind that allows you to spam and overload sv_pure’s verification when booting onto a server, you’ll be able to bypass all the checks.

Obviously, its impact speaks for itself. It can circumvent all VAC checks, and it won’t even be detected by ESEA or FACEIT’s anti-cheat. Of course while it can be manually reviewed by the Overwatch system, or Valve themselves, there’s no easy way to crack down on it.

Valve shipped a patch to CS:GO on August 17, which got players’ hopes up about a potential fix to an exploit. However, the update contained nothing of the sorts.

Given how quickly the previous exploit was patched out ⁠— only a couple of days after Sparkles’ first video on August 4 ⁠— this new one could be a hard nut to crack. It might be some days, or even weeks, before CS:GO returns to ‘normal.’

• Read more: BIG, FURIA win DreamHack Open Summer 2020

If you see someone using this exploit, or even suspect it, you can report them through the in-game function for wallhacks. While VAC might not detect it, it’s better than doing nothing.

You can find the full CS:GO August 17 patch notes below.

CS:GO August 17 patch notes

• End of match scoreboard will now display which players were playing as a party when skill groups are revealed.
• Average wait times for finding matches on official game servers are now region-specific.
• Rcon connection from client will now get established asynchronously.
• Rcon address cannot be changed while connected to a dedicated server.
• Added a setting “rcon_connected_clients_allow” to disallow clients from connecting to other dedicated servers via rcon.
• Several stability improvements.