Unique Machine Identifier by lozatto · Pull Request #101 · CS-NextClient/NextClient

lozatto · 2026-04-06T20:51:41Z

Technical Proposal: Persistent Hardware Identification System (HWID) v2

Overview

The goal is to implement a robust Hardware ID (HWID) system for Counter-Strike 1.6 by extending the NextClient (Client-side) and NextClientServerApi (Server-side). This ensures a player’s identity is tied to their physical machine, effectively preventing identity spoofing, bypassing bans via IP/SteamID rotation, and improving community integrity.

1. Client-Side Collection (NextClient)

Objective: Generate a unique, anonymized, and highly resilient hardware fingerprint.

Mechanism: A multi-path collection strategy (v2) to ensure reliability even if WMI is disabled:
- Primary (Win8+): Motherboard UUID + MSFT_Disk Serial (Boot disk specific).
- Secondary (Vista/7): Win32_DiskDrive cross-referenced with logical boot drive.
- Fallback (Bare Metal): Direct IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY calls to bypass WMI corruption.
- Persistence: Persistent registry-based seed in HKCU\Software\NextClient if all hardware probes fail.
Privacy & Security: Raw identifiers are concatenated and hashed via SHA-256 (64 hex chars). Raw data never leaves the client machine.

// Example: Implementation in src/client/hwid_collector.cpp
namespace hwid {
    std::string Collect() {
        // Combines Motherboard UUID and Boot Disk Serial
        std::string seed1 = CollectMotherboardUUID(); 
        std::string seed2 = CollectBootDiskSerial();
        
        // Final anonymized fingerprint
        return Utils::Sha256(seed1 + "|" + seed2);
    }
}

2. Synchronization (NCLM Protocol)

Objective: Securely transmit the HWID during the initial connection handshake.

Protocol Modification: Define a new message opcode in src/common/nclm_proto.h:
- NCLM_C2S_HARDWARE_ID: Sent immediately after the version check and before entering the game.
Data Integrity: The server enforces a "First-Packet-Only" rule per session. Any subsequent HWID packets are ignored to prevent mid-game spoofing via memory manipulation.

3. Session Management (Server Module)

Objective: Bind the HWID to the active player session for lookups.

Logic:
1. The server handles the NCLM_C2S_HARDWARE_ID opcode within nclm_server.cpp.
2. The 64-character hash is stored in the CPlayer object inside player_manager.cpp.
3. The ID is indexed, allowing for efficient blacklisting or identity verification independent of SteamID or IP address.

4. AMX Mod X Interface (API Layer)

Objective: Expose the HWID to Pawn scripts (e.g., Zombie Plague, Anti-Cheat, or Rank systems).

Native Implementation: Adds ncl_get_hardware_id to the NextClient API.

// Native: ncl_get_hardware_id(id, buffer[], len)
static cell AMX_NATIVE_CALL ncl_get_hardware_id(AMX *amx, cell *params) {
    int index = params[1];
    CPlayer* player = g_PlayerManager.GetPlayer(index);
    if (player && player->IsHWIDReady()) {
        return set_amxstring(amx, params[2], player->GetHWID().c_str(), params[3]);
    }
    return 0;
}

Expected Repository Structure

Client Repository (`nextclient`)

src/
├── client/
│   ├── hwid_collector.cpp      <-- v2 Collection logic (WMI/IOCTL/Registry)
│   ├── hwid_collector.h        <-- Public API (Collect, IsReady, Reset)
│   └── nclm_client.cpp         <-- Handshake packet integration
└── common/
    └── nclm_proto.h            <-- New NCLM_C2S_HARDWARE_ID opcode

Server Repository (`NextClientServerApi`)

src/
├── server/
│   ├── amxx_api.cpp            <-- AMXX Native registration
│   ├── nclm_server.cpp         <-- Handling HWID incoming packets
│   └── player_manager.cpp      <-- HWID session storage in CPlayer
├── amx/
│   └── nextclient.inc          <-- AMXX include: native ncl_get_hardware_id

Reference: Resolves architectural requirements for advanced ban management and identity validation. Fixes Issue #100.

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:07:38Z

+#pragma comment(lib, "Advapi32.lib")
+#pragma comment(lib, "wbemuuid.lib")
+#pragma comment(lib, "ole32.lib")
+#pragma comment(lib, "oleaut32.lib")


It would be preferable to move library linkage from #pragma directives into CMake (nextclient/engine_mini/CMakeLists.txt), in target_link_libraries

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:07:52Z

+#include "hwid_collector.h"
+
+#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
+#define NOMINMAX


WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN and NOMINMAX are not required, as they are already defined in CMakeLists.txt

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:08:32Z

+    std::string Sanitize(const std::string& s)
+    {
+        const char* kInvalid[] = {
+            "To be filled by O.E.M.", "Default string", "None", "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "0000_0000_0000_", ""


It may be safer to remove "" from kInvalid. The logic appears somewhat fragile: if the space were missing in find_first_not_of, all valid values would be treated as invalid

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:08:45Z

+        std::string t = s.substr(start, end - start + 1);
+
+        for (const char* inv : kInvalid)
+            if (t.find(inv) != std::string::npos || t == inv)


The condition || t == inv appears redundant, since the substring is already checked immediately before

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:21:05Z

+                VariantInit(&vSerial);
+
+                bool ok = false;
+                if (SUCCEEDED(pObj->Get(L"Index", 0, &vIdx, nullptr, nullptr)) && vIdx.vt == VT_I4 || vIdx.vt == VT_UI4)


It looks like parentheses are missing here:
if (SUCCEEDED(pObj->Get(L"Index", 0, &vIdx, nullptr, nullptr)) && (vIdx.vt == VT_I4 || vIdx.vt == VT_UI4))

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:23:12Z

+        }
+
+        ULONGLONG tick = GetTickCount64();
+        DWORD pid = GetCurrentProcessId();


It would be preferable to use random generation here, just in case. While a collision between GetTickCount64 and GetCurrentProcessId is unlikely, it is still possible

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:23:29Z

+            return false;
+
+        const std::string& hwidStr = hwid::Collect();
+        if (hwidStr.size() != 64)


This should most likely use NCLM_HWID_SIZE instead of 64

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:23:37Z

+        std::string combined = seed1 + "|" + seed2;
+        std::string hwid = Sha256Hex(combined);
+
+        if (hwid.size() == 64)


This should most likely use NCLM_HWID_SIZE instead of 64

Polarhigh · 2026-04-12T12:23:51Z

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#pragma once
+


Add #include "hlsdk.h", the project does not compile due to the missing declaration of sizebuf_t

lozatto

Looks good to me.
Everything is clear and well organized, and the changes make sense.

perfect

…ts to English

lozatto · 2026-04-22T19:58:58Z

I've made the suggested updates; please see if they look good to you @Polarhigh

lozatto added 2 commits April 6, 2026 17:38

Unique Machine Identifier

4de280c

Refactor: Implement HWID System v2 with multi-path collection

f0e3aee

Polarhigh requested changes Apr 12, 2026

View reviewed changes

lozatto commented Apr 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

Refactor HWID system: move library linkage to CMake and update commen…

0a44542

…ts to English

lozatto requested a review from Polarhigh April 22, 2026 19:58

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Unique Machine Identifier#101

Unique Machine Identifier#101
lozatto wants to merge 3 commits intoCS-NextClient:mainfrom
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lozatto commented Apr 6, 2026 •

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Technical Proposal: Persistent Hardware Identification System (HWID) v2

Overview

1. Client-Side Collection (NextClient)

2. Synchronization (NCLM Protocol)

3. Session Management (Server Module)

4. AMX Mod X Interface (API Layer)

Expected Repository Structure

Client Repository (nextclient)

Server Repository (NextClientServerApi)

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lozatto commented Apr 22, 2026

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lozatto commented Apr 6, 2026 •

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Client Repository (`nextclient`)

Server Repository (`NextClientServerApi`)