aFacebook's WhatsApp messenger service has said it has fixed the latest bug
on its platform that allowed hackers to take over users' applications when
they answered an incoming video call.
The announcement follows reports from technology websites ZDnet and The
Register that the vulnerability, which affected WhatsApp applications on
Apple and Android smartphones, was discovered in late August and was fixed
by Facebook in early October.
"We routinely engage with security researchers from around the world to
ensure WhatsApp remains safe and reliable. We promptly issued a fix to the
latest version of WhatsApp to resolve this issue," WhatsApp said in an email
statement to Reuters.
A WhatsApp employee familiar with dealing of the issue said there was no
evidence that hackers actually exploited the bug to launch attacks.
A Google spokesman also said the company was not aware of the bug ever being
used in an attack before getting patched.
However Travis Ormandy, a researcher at Google Project Zero which discovered
the bug, called it a "big deal."
"Just ++answering a call from an attacker could completely compromise
WhatsApp," he said on Twitter.
WhatsApp is used by more than 1.2 billion people around the world and is a
key tool for communications and commerce in many countries.
The service was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19bn.
Facebook has suffered a string of security-related problems in the last
year.
The social media company last week disclosed its worst-ever security breach
affecting nearly 50 million accounts.
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