Microsoft Patches 1 Critical Age of Empires II Flaw as AI Drives Record Bug Fixes
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 15
Microsoft Patches 1 Critical Age of Empires II Flaw as AI Drives Record Bug Fixes
2 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 15
Summary
A custom game invite in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition could let attackers place malicious files on a victim’s PC and ultimately run code, giving them effective control of the machine.
Microsoft fixed the bug in Tuesday’s Patch Tuesday release, which set a historic company record for vulnerabilities patched across its product lines.
Rapid7 said the exploit path started inside the remastered 25-year-old strategy game, and a video posted on X showed how hackers could trigger the takeover.
No in-the-wild exploitation has been confirmed, but researchers warned gamers can be attractive malware targets because attacks can spread widely and steal passwords.
Microsoft said AI-assisted research—both internally and by external researchers—helped uncover the unusually large batch of flaws patched this month.