Major Security Fault Found in EA Origin Game Client

Origin, Electronic Arts's PC gaming platform, presents a security vulnerability that allows hackers to encourage users of the service to open and execute malware on their system.

EA's response to the famous Steam and Epic showcases was used to launch the publisher's own games, such as Apex Legends and Anthem, but the researchers at Underdog Security found a flaw in the Windows version of the client – installed by tens of millions of players.

As reported by TechCrunch, it was possible to trap the desktop application to run any program on the user's computer by clicking on a custom link, which allowed hackers to execute certain commands on their system and to download malicious programs such as malware.

In addition, it is not even necessary to explicitly click on the link for the Origin client to execute it, a script to open the problematic link when a user visits another unbound page.

Fortunately, EA released a hotfix Monday that resolves the exploit successfully, but it is recommended that users of the service verify that they are using the latest version. Mac users can breathe easily because the vulnerability has never affected this version of the client.