Origin now corrected vulnerability potentially opens the client to hackers

Until recently, the Electronic Arts Origin digital gaming platform had a security vulnerability that could be used to execute malicious applications on a Origin user's computer.

Researchers at TechCrunch gave an overview of the exploit in action, explaining that the flaw itself allowed potential attackers to use Origin as a channel to induce users to execute any application of their choice.

This was a problem exclusive to the client's Windows version, and the Underdog Security researchers said they took advantage of the way Origin used the "origin: //" links to start the games by clicking a link in a page Web.

Combined with other remedies such as PowerShell commands, this exploit could theoretically have been used to download and install malicious programs on computers of unsuspecting home users who had clicked on a backdoor link. The bug, which was fixed by EA on Monday, also opened the door for hackers to steal account access tokens using a single line of code.