Section dedicated to developers and moreover the games'developers who want to implement or have already implemented a cd-key's control in their software for both offline and online usage.
Here I show some common problems divided in sections, how to avoid them and some real examples all resulted by my research.
Local (offline) cd-keys'controls common problems
Documents: Real examples:
- Q3keybrute 0.1.1
This is a very simple cd-key brute-forcer proof-of-concept for Quake 3. It uses the Quake 3 algorithm used to check if keys are valid or not to retrieve all the locally valid cd-keys for this game
- Q3keyauto 0.1.1
Random cd-key auto changer for Quake 3: this tool creates a new random cd-key for Quake 3 and writes it in the baseq3\q3key file, so then must just relanched the game to use the new key
- SOF2keybrute 0.1.1
As the previous examples, this tool instead uses the Soldier of Fortune 2 algorithm used to the check the valid keys. SOF2 is a game based on the Quake 3 engine and in fact we can note how poor are the differences between the 2 algorithms
- SOF2keyauto 0.1
This tool is the same of the previous but with the automatic function to add the first random valid key in the file base\mp\sof2key
- HLkeybrute 0.1.1
Also Half-Life is another example of brute forcing applied to the local cd-keys
- HLkeyauto 0.1
Same as above but the first valid random key is directly saved into the registry
- CSkeyauto 0.1
Just the same tool as above but specific for Counter Strike
- Gore cd-key checker 0.1 (gorekeycheck)
checks if a specific Gore cd-key is valid or not.
Online cd-keys'controls common problems
Documents:
- Online cd-keys: details of the problem and possible solutions 0.1 WORK IN PROGRESS
- Online cd-key brute-forcer for Quake III 0.1.1
Finding valid online cd-keys is quite impossible however I have written this simple proof-of-concept for the game Quake 3. The brute-forcer finds the valid offline cd-keys and then checks them online contacting the server authorize.quake3arena.com (or one chose by the user)
Problems derived by universal cd-keys
Documents:
- Universal cd-keys: possible problems and solutions 0.1 WORK IN PROGRESS
- Unreal Tournament 2003 alternative network project 0.1.3
This project demonstrates how is possible to use an universal cd-key assigned to the demo version of UT2003 also on the normal retail game
Possible problems derived by the usage of cd-keys'hashs
Documents:
- Cd-keys'hashs: possible problems and solutions 0.1 WORK IN PROGRESS
- CD-Key hash changer for UnrealTournament 2003 v2225 for Win32 0.1
Fortunately UT2003 uses strong mechanisms to avoid abuses in the usage of the hashs of the cd-key, so this patch (it is a patch, not a tool) is completely useless but is very useful to understand or imagine how a method to protect a cd-key could become a possible flaw
Possible problems derived by sending unique Cd-keys through Internet in plain-text
Documents:
- Possible problems derived by sending unique Cd-keys through Internet in plain-text 0.1 WORK IN PROGRESS
- All the games based on the Quake 3 engine: they send the unique Cd-key of the player to the relative master server for authorization but the keys are just in plain-text so they can be used by who can read the UDP packet (DNS hijacking, sniffing and so on)