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    <title>Lystic Blog</title>
    <link>https://lystic.dev/blog</link>
    <description>Posts from Lystic on security, reverse engineering, and software development.</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 02:38:52 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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    <item>
      <title>Is Your Unique DMA Firmware Actually Unique?</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/is-your-unique-dma-firmware-actually-unique</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/is-your-unique-dma-firmware-actually-unique</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 03 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[By now many of you know about ECheats, a DMA cheat provider.
As part of developing this platform, I have taken a closer look at LeechCore...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Hiding from Manual Syscall Detections</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/hiding-from-manual-syscall-detections</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/hiding-from-manual-syscall-detections</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 14 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The last few weeks I have been taking a closer look at instrumentation callbacks and how I can avoid them when making manual syscalls.
If you haven't already, read my previous post on manual syscalls to get up to speed.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Escape From Tarkov DMA Radar</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/escape-from-tarkov-dma-radar</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/escape-from-tarkov-dma-radar</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 05 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I have continued my adventures into DMA cheating over the last year
& have begun the task of writing a DMA framework dedicated to cheat development...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Manual Syscalls on Windows</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/manual-syscalls-on-windows</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/manual-syscalls-on-windows</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I've recently been working on a new cheat and it's become necessary to take steps to obscure my code.
To do this, I've taken on the task of learning to run syscalls...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Cheating in Escape From Tarkov is Easy</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/cheating-in-escape-from-tarkov-is-easy</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/cheating-in-escape-from-tarkov-is-easy</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Cheating in Tarkov has been making the rounds lately online.
Funny enough, I recently started playing the game again with friends, 
so I gave my old cheats a kick...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Ethereum Payment Processor</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/ethereum-payment-processor</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/ethereum-payment-processor</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I have been fascinated with the Ethereum ecosystem since the beginning of Defi.
I continue to see cryptocurrency as a solution to several failure points of the internet...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Modded Proto Definitions in Enfusion Engine</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/modded-proto-definitions-in-enfusion-engine</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/modded-proto-definitions-in-enfusion-engine</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Enfusion Engine's scripting language ships with Proto definitions.
These connect the C++ code in the engine to the scripting language...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Networked Meshes in Arma Refroger</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/networked-meshes-in-arma-refroger</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/networked-meshes-in-arma-refroger</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 25 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Arma Reforger is the latest Arma game released by Bohemia Interactive.
This is more of a demo of the Enfusion Engine than a fully-featured gaming experience...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>DMA Code Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/dma-code-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/dma-code-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Hi everyone! It's been some time since my last post. 
In this one, I wanted to continue on the Direct Memory Access (DMA) train of thought 
and cover something much more complex than simple pointer swapping...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Executing SQF Without Allocating Memory</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/executing-sqf-without-allocating-memory</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/executing-sqf-without-allocating-memory</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So recently I purchased a Screamer PCIe from LambdaConcept. 
Personally, I would not recommend buying one of these as two…]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>CallExtension in DayZ</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/callextension-in-dayz</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/callextension-in-dayz</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 22 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[One of my least favorite changes between Arma 3 modding and 
DayZ modding is that the developers of DayZ...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>DayZ Arbitrary Enforce Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/dayz-arbitrary-enforce-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/dayz-arbitrary-enforce-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 16 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So recently, I have been working with Fini on his Anticheat.
By "I have been working with", I mean that he has done most of the work...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SHA256 Implementation in DayZ Standalone</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/sha256-implementation-in-dayz-standalone</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/sha256-implementation-in-dayz-standalone</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[In the last few days, I decided to do something for no
reason other than the challenge. I decided I wanted...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Enabling File Write to DayZ Root Directory</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/enabling-file-write-to-dayz-root-directory</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/enabling-file-write-to-dayz-root-directory</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So my recent work on DayZ BR has lead to me creating my 
own ban management system. The idea is all server bans...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How to create a Remote Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/how-to-create-a-remote-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/how-to-create-a-remote-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Arma 3 Remote Execution is considered one of the few peaks
of script-based cheating. For server owners, cheaters...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>TFAR Code Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/tfar-code-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/tfar-code-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Everyone who has played Arma for an extended period has come across TFAR,
Task Force Arrowhead Radio. I am not going to go into...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Lazy Eval Execution Exploit</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/lazy-eval-execution-exploit</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/lazy-eval-execution-exploit</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Recently I have been interacting directly with some guys at Bohemia
Interactive. With the latest update, BIS_fnc_parseNumberSafe...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Arma 3 “Old Man” SQF Execution Exploit</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/arma-3-old-man-sqf-execution-exploit</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/arma-3-old-man-sqf-execution-exploit</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[With the "Old Man" update out now, I decided to take another
look at the Functions and UI scripts to see what fixes they implemented...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Pre-Connection Remote Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/pre-connection-remote-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/pre-connection-remote-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I have covered remote execution in the past. Everyone by now knows that
any remote execution cheat is brutal to the security of game servers...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Breaking the SQF Firewall</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/breaking-the-sqf-firewall</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/breaking-the-sqf-firewall</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the least discussed issues with the Arma 3 Engine, Real Virtuality 4, is
the Engine and the Developer's inability to protect game servers from its own
scripting language.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Owning Tarkov&apos;s Marketplace</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/owning-tarkovs-marketplace</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/owning-tarkovs-marketplace</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 11 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Escape From Tarkov is a first-person shooter in its alpha stage of 
development. It has an in-game economy with unique characteristics...]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SQF Genetic Algorithm</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/sqf-genetic-algorithm</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/sqf-genetic-algorithm</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[So I have been looking into machine learning and decided I should dive 
head first into genetic algorithms. The concept was easy enough for me to
wrap my head around.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Overriding the Official Server List in ArmA 3</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/overriding-the-official-server-list-in-arma-3</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/overriding-the-official-server-list-in-arma-3</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[There is a little-used feature in the ArmA 3 Multiplayer Server list that
shows all of their "Official" servers. Currently, there are ~100 players on
the official servers.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>extDB2 Exploit And Why You Should Use SQL_CUSTOM_V2</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/extdb2-exploit-and-why-you-should-use-sql_custom_v2</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/extdb2-exploit-and-why-you-should-use-sql_custom_v2</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 08 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[If you run a Life Server you probably use extDB2. It is a wonderfully
optimized and amazingly useful plugin used for Database connectivity.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Hardware Packet Monitor - Raspberry Pi</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/hardware-packet-monitor-raspberry-pi</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/hardware-packet-monitor-raspberry-pi</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I have been working on a new project with my Raspberry Pi 3.
I was looking for situations where something running on my current PC would block an application like Wireshark, and how to work around this protection.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ArmA 3 UI Execution Exploit - In Detail</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/arma-3-ui-execution-exploit-in-detail</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/arma-3-ui-execution-exploit-in-detail</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The latest patch has fixed these issues, so this post should be used to learn how to better prevent these forms of exploits from appearing in your missions and mods.
Now that BI has shipped a fix I wanted to go over, in detail, how the method works and how we can prevent these flaws from happening again.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Blocking Scripted Remote Execution</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/blocking-scripted-remote-execution</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/blocking-scripted-remote-execution</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 15 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[Recently, there have been a lot of server file leaks.
The way cheaters obtain server files has always been the same — Remote Execute some code up to the server that retrieves data and returns it back to the cheater's client.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Server Password Bruteforcing</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/server-password-bruteforcing</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/server-password-bruteforcing</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 27 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I spent the last two days working on a method for stealing server admin passwords.
The plan was to combine it with the database injection from my [previous post] — drop the bruteforce into a server, let it run for weeks, walk away with the admin password.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What do cheaters use on ArmA 3 servers?</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/what-do-cheaters-use-on-arma-3-servers</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/what-do-cheaters-use-on-arma-3-servers</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[What kind of attacks do cheaters actually use on Arma 3 servers, and what are servers most often vulnerable to?
I'm going to break it down into a few categories and cover each separately, with examples drawn directly from my own work.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Advanced Script Variable Hiding</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/advanced-script-variable-hiding</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/advanced-script-variable-hiding</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I needed a new way to hide global variables from being accessed — or even found, for that matter — by threads that aren't created by me.
This is useful for anticheats because it lets them access and modify values from multiple threads without exposing those values to any malicious thread.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Having AI Run After and Kill You</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/having-ai-run-after-and-kill-you</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/having-ai-run-after-and-kill-you</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I had been working on a Zombie-like system inside Arma 3 and wanted the AI to chase down my player and kill me.
Should be very simple, but I couldn't find a clean way to do it with the built-in AI scripting commands.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How to Detect Hint Menus</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/how-to-detect-hint-menus</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/how-to-detect-hint-menus</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[The worst nightmare for any anticheat developer is coming across a cheat that's nearly impossible to detect.
Hint menus are one of those — there's no way to disable the `hint` command, and no built-in way to read what's currently being displayed.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Manipulating Vehicle Locality</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/manipulating-vehicle-locality</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/manipulating-vehicle-locality</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A while ago I was working on a system that would let me manipulate remote objects as if they were local to me.
I wanted commands like `setDamage` and `setVelocity` to work on objects that were created by the server.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>C# Arma Extension command parsing</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/c-arma-extension-command-parsing</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/c-arma-extension-command-parsing</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[I spent a good portion of time last year working with server extensions in [Arma 3].
I wanted a simple way to interface the script and the extension, and to make adding functions into the extension as easy as possible.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Draw3D Interactive Menu</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/draw3d-interactive-menu</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/draw3d-interactive-menu</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A few months ago I was poking at the [Draw3D] mission event handler in Arma 3, trying to build a user interface that didn't rely on clunky keybinds for selection.
Most in-game menus I had seen cycled through options with keys, which always felt awkward.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How do Anticheats work?</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/how-do-anticheats-work</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/how-do-anticheats-work</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A lot of people don't understand how scripted anticheats like [Infistar AntiHack] actually work, but the idea is simple.
The whole thing boils down to three tricks: randomizing variable names, leaning on local scope, and pushing heartbeat checks to clients in a way that catches anyone who tries to silence them.]]></description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Securing publicVariableEventHandlers</title>
      <link>https://lystic.dev/blog/securing-publicvariableeventhandlers</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://lystic.dev/blog/securing-publicvariableeventhandlers</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description><![CDATA[A big issue with most game modes in Arma 3 is how they handle network messages.
Most servers I've come across do nothing to protect [`publicVariableEventHandler`] and [`remoteExec`] calls.]]></description>
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