A major flaw in the Whatsapp desktop application could give hackers access to users' computer files

According to a recent Facebook statement, there appears to be a flaw in WhatsApp's desktop that allows attackers to remotely access and read files on Windows and Mac systems.

The popular messaging app WhatsApp is known for its outstanding security and privacy features, but Facebook recently issued a security warning about a major flaw in the desktop version of the app. According to blockbeat, the flaw could allow a potential attacker to read files on a Windows or Mac computer through a cross-site scripting attack. In short, a hacker can use a special text message to access files on a target computer and get them from the other end of a WhatsApp message.

The vulnerability was first discovered by PerimeterX security researcher Gal Weizman. In the course of his research, Weizman found a cross-site scripting flaw in WhatsApp, but that was an issue as far back as 2017. He later discovered that the vulnerability allowed for things like tampering with the metadata of the message and hiding urls in the message. He had been looking at this flaw and possibilities, and it turned out that he could inject JavaScript code into messages to allow access to the local file system through the JavaScript Fetch API.

And that's not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that WhatsApp's desktop program was developed through an outdated and flawed version: Chrome 69, the old browser engine of Google Chrome. The flaw is expected to affect every version of the WhatsApp desktop until version 0.3.9309 is released.

Original address:https://news.beincrypto.com/2020/02/16/whatsapp-desktop-app-flawed-hackers-could-gain-access-files/

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