Zwift fixes weight and height hack that made riders unbeatable
The unnoticeable loophole was recently exposed
Zwift has fixed the loophole that allowed riders to hack their weight and height without anyone noticing and make themselves practically unbeatable.
The loophole was published by ZwiftInsider contributor Luciano Pollastri, who was subsequently banned and then unbanned by Zwift, with the platform now moving to fix the issue.
"Today we are beginning a series of security changes to address an exploit in game where a Zwifter could change their weight while in an activity in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in competition," Zwift announced in a statement.
"This exploit could be detected on Zwift servers, but would be hidden from public view, therefore impacting community racing. The first fix, which is live today, addresses competitive integrity and ensures greater fairness, specifically in events."
The fix that Zwift have implemented results in riders' weight and height remaining locked while they are in an event, with those trying to being served with a generic error message.
Users will still be able to change their height and weight when logged out of the game or when logged into the game but not active in an event.
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Another announcement Zwift made in light of the weight doping hack was the introduction of a bug bounty programme, where people can be rewarded for finding glitches within the platform. Those hoping to join will have to be patient though, as Zwift says it's currently in production.
"We know a lot of you are also interested to hear more about the bug bounty program. This will take time to develop but as with this fix, we will keep you updated as soon as we have news," the company said.
"This is the first step of many we are taking to address game integrity. We look forward to updating you on additional efforts."
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.