Was your data in the devkitPro breach?

2019 · devkitpro.org1,508 accountsSeverity 10 / 10 — critical, because passwords and private messages leaked

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Free. No password — we email you a six-digit code. This breach and every other one your address appears in.

devkitPro (devkitpro.org) suffered a data breach in 2019 that exposed around 1,508 accounts. If you had an account, some of your personal data may be circulating in leaked databases. The fastest way to know is to check your own email — free, in about 30 seconds, no password required.

What happened

In February 2019, the devkitPro forum suffered a data breach. The phpBB based forum had 1,508 unique email addresses exposed in the breach alongside forum posts, private messages and passwords stored as weak salted hashes. The data breach was self-submitted to HIBP by the forum operator.

Breach record from Have I Been Pwned, CC BY 4.0. Risk analysis by Nullivo.

What was exposed, and why it matters

Not all breaches carry the same risk — what matters is which fields leaked. Here is what the devkitPro breach exposed and what each item actually enables:

Passwords
weight 10 / 10
Attackers replay leaked passwords across other sites (“credential stuffing”). Because most people reuse passwords, one leak often unlocks email, shopping and banking accounts elsewhere.
Private messages
weight 8 / 10
Personal correspondence can be used for blackmail or social engineering, and often contains other sensitive details you have forgotten sharing.
Email addresses
weight 3 / 10
Puts you on spam and phishing lists, and confirms to attackers that you hold an account with this service — which makes impersonation emails more believable.

What to do if you were affected

These steps are ordered for this specific breach — the most urgent action given what leaked comes first.

  1. Passwords
    Change this password everywhere you have reused it, starting with your email account — whoever controls your email can reset everything else.
  2. Private messages
    Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures).
  3. Email addresses
    Treat any message referencing this service with suspicion, and never act on links in unexpected emails.
  4. Confirm you were actually in it
    Run a free scan before you spend time on the steps above.

How urgent is this now?

This breach is over 7 years old. Old credentials still cause harm — leaked passwords from a decade ago are still tried against new accounts every day.

Passwords are the reason breach age matters less than people expect. Leaked credentials are compiled into wordlists that get tried against new services for years afterwards, so a password exposed here is unsafe to use anywhere, ever again.

Remember: a breach can’t be “un-leaked” — once a database is out, it exists in countless copies. The goal is to make the leaked data useless: change what can be changed, lock down what can’t, and remove what has been republished.

Frequently asked questions

What data was exposed in the devkitPro breach?

The devkitPro breach exposed passwords, private messages, email addresses. Attackers replay leaked passwords across other sites (“credential stuffing”). Because most people reuse passwords, one leak often unlocks email, shopping and banking accounts elsewhere.

How many people were affected by the devkitPro breach?

Around 1,508 accounts were exposed, making it a smaller, more targeted breach.

What should I do if I had a devkitPro account?

Change this password everywhere you have reused it, starting with your email account — whoever controls your email can reset everything else. You can check whether your own email appears in this breach with a free Nullivo scan — no password required.

Breaches that exposed similar data

If the devkitPro breach affected you, these breaches exposed comparable information — worth checking too, since leaked datasets are routinely combined.

See all breaches we cover →