WhatsApp Bug Causes Crashing Loop; Wipes Out Group Chat Histories

If you’re one of the over one billion people that uses WhatsApp, you probably want to make sure that you’re using the latest version of the messaging app. According to a report by Bleeping Computer, security researchers at Check Point recently discovered a bug that sends the app into a crashing loop.

The bug was originally discovered back in August of this year, when the Check Point researchers created a tool called “WhatsApp Manipulation Tool”. The tool basically modified certain parameters of the app that allowed them to gain access of encryption and decryption keys. Generated whenever a user logs into his or her WhatsApp account.

Once access was gained, the researchers could then initiate the crash by simply changing the phone number of a user to an alphabet or symbol, which would then cause the aforementioned crash that affects group chats. For the affected, the only workaround for them is to uninstall and reinstall the app, and then proceeding to delete the affected group chat. Ultimately, the crashing will cease, but any and all chat history of that group will be lost.

The good news is that WhatsApp has since issued a fix for the bug with version 2.19.58, which is already available via both Google Play and the Apple App Store. On a related note, Check Point says that the bug had not, mercifully, yet been exploited by hackers.

(Source: Bleeping Computer via Hot Hardware // Image source: Bleeping Computer)

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