Check Point Research helps WhatsApp mitigate a new vulnerability
By MYBRANDBOOK
Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point Software has recently helped mitigate a new vulnerability in WhatsApp that could allow a bad actor to deliver a malicious group chat message that would crash the app for all members of the group. To regain use of WhatsApp, users would need to uninstall and reinstall it, then delete the group which contains the message.
To create a malicious message that would impact a WhatsApp group, the bad actor would need to be a member of the target group (WhatsApp allows up to 256 users per group). From there, the bad actor would need to use WhatsApp Web and their web browser’s debugging tool to edit specific message parameters and send the edited text to the group. This edited message would cause a crash loop for group members, denying users access to all WhatsApp functions until they reinstall WhatsApp and delete the group with the malicious message.
Oded Vanunu, Check Point’s Head of Product Vulnerability Research said, “Because WhatsApp is one of the world’s leading communication channels for consumers, businesses and government agencies, the ability to stop people using WhatsApp and delete valuable information from group chats is a powerful weapon for bad actors. All WhatsApp users should update to the latest version of the app to protect themselves against this possible attack.”
Check Point Research responsibly disclosed its findings to the WhatsApp bug bounty program on August 28th, 2019. WhatsApp acknowledged the findings and developed a fix to resolve the issue, which is available since WhatsApp version number 2.19.58. Users should manually apply on their devices. “WhatsApp responded quickly and responsibly to deploy the mitigation against exploitation of this vulnerability,” said Oded Vanunu.
“WhatsApp greatly values the work of the technology community to help us maintain strong security for our users globally,” said WhatsApp Software Engineer Ehren Kret. “Thanks to the responsible submission from Check Point to our bug bounty program, we quickly resolved this issue for all WhatsApp apps in mid-September. We have also recently added new controls to prevent people from being added to unwanted groups to avoid communication with untrusted parties all together.”
The Check Point Research team found the vulnerability by inspecting the communications between WhatsApp and WhatsApp Web, the web version of the app which mirrors all messages sent and received from the user’s phone. This enabled researchers to see the parameters used for WhatsApp communications and manipulate them. This new research builds on the 'FakesApp' flaws discovered by Check Point Research, which allowed group chat messages to be edited to spread fake news.
Singapore to remove One-Time Passwords from Bank Accounts
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, clients who utilise secur...
Is 375 million Airtel subscribers database breached?
When a hacker claims to have accessed and put up for sale a customer databa...
The government of India intends to construct a single portal f
A single portal will be launched by the Indian government to list all of it...
OpenAI offers GPT-4o, a faster model available to all users at
GPT-4o, a faster and more sophisticated AI model, is made available to all...
Icons Of India : PRATIVA MOHAPATRA
Prativa is a transformational leader with an incredible breadth of exp...
Icons Of India : Dr. Arvind Gupta
Arvind Gupta is the Head and Co-Founder of the Digital India Foundatio...
ICONS OF INDIA : SANDIP PATEL
Sandip Patel is the Managing Director for IBM India & South Asia regio...
CSC - Common Service Centres
CSC initiative in India is a strategic cornerstone of the Digital Indi...
PFC - Power Finance Corporation Ltd
PFC is a leading financial institution in India specializing in power ...
ECIL - Electronics Corporation of India Limited
ECIL is distinguished by its diverse technological capabilities and it...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - NIKESH ARORA, Chairman CEO - Palo Alto Networks
Nikesh Arora, the Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is steering ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - RAVI KUMAR S, CEO- Cognizant
Ravi Kumar S, appointed as CEO of Cognizant in January 2023, sets the ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Aneel Bhusri, CEO, Workday
Aneel Bhusri, Co-Founder and Executive Chair at Workday, has been a le...