Exploit in UGC that allows Transparent Items

Bug Reports Engine Bugs
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#1

Exploit in UGC That Allows Transparent Items or (“using a trick to bypass Roblox’s UGC restriction’s” - sharkblox)

A recently discovered exploit within the User-Generated Content (UGC) community has revealed a method by which creators can design accessories and items that appear transparent when used in R15 avatars. While this issue has minimal, if any, impact on general gameplay for users, it allows the creation and distribution of UGC items that would not typically pass Roblox’s standard validation checks during the upload process. This exploit effectively circumvents the accessory guidelines and requirements established by Roblox, resulting in content that does not adhere to the platform’s intended specifications. It may be possible to edit other properties of UGC accessories to replicate this glitch. Like, you may be able to edit the reflection property and make your UGC reflective. This is only one example of the many that could happen, but have not been tested. This exploit has been around since the inception of UGC but has only recently had its repro steps publicized. As a result, dozens of items leveraging this exploit are now being uploaded every hour or two, which you can observe in the ‘Recently Published’ section of the catalog. Another post I found from a user explains how this could be disruptive and unwanted by both creator and Roblox. Ability to make Semi-transparent UGC accessories - #2 by Abcreator

Reproduction Method for Transparent Items Exploit

The reproduction method will be shared in PM.

This exploit bypasses moderation and creates a transparent item by tricking the Roblox System into thinking their accessory’s transparency is 0 when really it is actually >0.

Accessories like this are being uploaded to the platform at a rapid rate as this method of creating accessories like this has been publicized. Below I have attached a few of these transparent accessories to help aid your team in fixing this issue. As these are only a few of the accessories that are exploited by this bug, there will be many others I will share with you in PM.

Example 1: Save Us From Him - Roblox

Example 2: Catalog - Roblox

A special example I found was which they used this exploit on a bundle to create a copy of the Roblox Headless Horseman’s Headless Invisible Head. This is more than enough information that this issue applies to any marketplace asset.

Link: Ghost Head [⭐] - Roblox

Expected behavior

UGC items should not be able to be modified by bugs to change certain properties that are against the UGC Requirements.

A private message is associated with this bug report

28 Likes
Does Roblox allow Transparent UGC items to be uploaded?
#2

This exploit can be used with all of the different UGC types. One of the biggest issues with this is that people can make headless bundles and invisible bundles for people to buy and wear. This can cause some game issues as well as some unfairness in some cases. I have attached a link in my previous post (the original) that shows one bundle that used this bug to exploit and sell their bundle with an invisible head.

7 Likes
#3

Sharing reproduction steps for vulnerabilities like this in your public report goes against bug reporting rules. I recommend removing those details from your post and instead sharing them privately in the PM. This will help prevent the post from being hidden and reduce the risk of further exploitation.

To add some info here: this exploit has been around since the inception of UGC but has only recently had its repro steps publicized. As a result, dozens of items leveraging this exploit are now being uploaded every hour or two, which you can observe in the ‘Recently Published’ section of the catalog.

21 Likes
#4

It’s really hard to tell if this is an exploit, or just a “ugc trick”. When used to the extreme (like invisible head) it’s a problem. But to give a very slight translucent effect to a button seems to be more in line with accepted “glitches” like reversing normals (to achieve outlines and other see-through effects)

If it doesn’t impact performance, I hope they leave it alone. UGC could use more features for fresh item types.

20 Likes
#5

I don’t see any problem with this? Roblox accessories should be allowed to be transparent atleast to 0.5 Transparency. This limit shouldn’t be a thing to begin with, and we should get this “bug” as a feature.
There’s a lot of Roblox-made transparent accessories, and there’s a large number of people who enjoy transparent accessories.

We’re being limited by the UGC system not being able to express our creativity.
This doesn’t impart performance too much, and should become a feature.

21 Likes
#9

“Glass Head” uses SurfaceAppearance transparency, not the same thing

7 Likes
#10

Just made a new forum post a few minutes ago about suggesting to turn this into a feature!

I’m sure many more would love to see transparent UGC items being allowed (with a few limitations of course, one being they can only be used for accessories & not for bodies)

14 Likes
#11

What if everyone in PvP games are invisible or semi-transparent? It would be unfair to legit players and would force developers to use custom characters for their PvP games, even if they don’t want to.

7 Likes
#12

a player’s character will not be transparent—only the accessories they wear.

3 Likes
#13

UGC creators cannot create and publish character bundles? If so, it may be possible for them to create invisible character bundles using this glitch.

5 Likes
#16

As soon as this gets reviewed, could we get a follow-up on this situation and if it these actions are subject to moderations and takedowns?

I’ve always wanted to make transparent fashionable items (that replicate glass for an example), and I’d like to to see if this would get a green light for universal use.

5 Likes
#20

Hey Roman,

I took what you said into consideration and have applied those to my original post. Thanks

4 Likes
#21

I will update with this issue once it is fixed. Not sure if transparent items can be deleted, but if you make fully invisible, that definitely goes against the TOS.

3 Likes
#22

Incorrect, I have linked a way some user has used this exploit to create an invisible head for their bundle.

3 Likes
#23

Although is seems harmless in some cases, this exploit is used to replicate fully invisible UGC such as bundles. This is very unfair when it comes to some games.

4 Likes
#24

I don’t think this should work for bundles, just for accessories. I’ve made a post about something related to this and mentioned that.

Also I believe accessories should only be allowed to have between 0-0.5 transparency or textures having all pixels with the alpha level higher than 127.

This would make sure that invisible characters can’t be created & also allow users to create transparent accessories. It would open up a bigger market to creators and allow more users to express their creativity & create avatars the way they want.

5 Likes
#25

It is possible to upload “transparent” bundles with this “exploit”, but I do not see this method creating any problematic bundles given that this has already been done and doesn’t create any outstanding effects.

735410429

Personally, I believe this whole “exploit” should be a feature instead, it opens up a lot of creative opportunities for creators, and doesn’t yield any performance, moderation, or gameplay issues.

11 Likes
#26

I linked a bundle showcasing the invisible properties applied to the head. This can be replicated with other body parts and can potentially lead to unfair bundles being created.

3 Likes
#27

This could be a feature, but it is being used maliciously to create items that mostly copy other invisible items created by Roblox. Most of the meshes and textures on these are completely stolen.

4 Likes
#28

One of the replies on this feature dev forum post just shows how some creators or Roblox would not want this on their platform and how it could cause problems.

4 Likes