Remote Code Execution via GIF
Hackers were able to take control of WhatsApp using a GIF image in October 2019 when security researcher Awakened revealed a GIF vulnerability. To use the hack, users need to open the Gallery View in WhatsApp and send a media file. This hack attempts to take advantage of how WhatsApp processes images. A preview of the GIF is displayed after the app parses the GIF. The GIF format has multiple frames that are encoded. This makes it possible to hide elements of code within an image. Hackers could compromise the chat history of a user by sending them a malicious GIF. A hacker could see who the user had contacted and what they had said. Not only they can read the messages but they can also access your files, photos, and videos through WhatsApp. WhatsApp versions up to 2.19.230 on Android 8.1 and 9 were affected by the vulnerability.
6 Ways Your WhatsApp Messages Can Be Hacked
In the recent era, the use of WhatsApp has grown significantly, the active users of WhatsApp are around 2 billion with over 30 billion messages sent over a day. The two founders namely Brain Acton and Jan Koum invested their blood, sweat, and tears to make WhatsApp a successful messaging app on the planet. WhatsApp is an easy-to-use messaging app that’s popular and simple to use. It comes with some security features, like end-to-end encryption, designed to keep messages secure. The best part about WhatsApp is that although the company has been around for 10 years, it still maintains its non-ad, no-game, no-gimmick guarantee while making millions in revenue.
To protect its users WhatsApp introduced many features but it’s still not immune to hacks as a result, your message and contact privacy may be compromised.