Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Mobile & Wireless

Vulnerability in Twitter App Enabled Hackers to Obtain Information, Control Accounts

A vulnerability in the Twitter application for Android could have been exploited by hackers to obtain sensitive information or take control of accounts.

A vulnerability in the Twitter application for Android could have been exploited by hackers to obtain sensitive information or take control of accounts.

Twitter told customers on Friday that it recently patched the security flaw, which does not impact the iOS version of the app. The company says it has been notifying exposed users through email and the Twitter app.

Users who are unable to update the application to a patched version have been advised to use the browser-based version of Twitter to protect their accounts against potential attacks.

According to Twitter, the vulnerability can be exploited to obtain information such as direct messages, protected tweets and location data, and even to gain some control over the targeted user’s account — for instance, to send tweets or direct messages on their behalf.

While no technical details have been disclosed, the social media giant says exploitation of the vulnerability is a “complicated process involving the insertion of malicious code into restricted storage areas of the Twitter app.”

Twitter says it has found no evidence that the weakness has been exploited in attacks, but it cannot completely rule out the possibility.

Twitter’s co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, announced recently that his company would be funding a team of up to five open source architects, engineers, and designers who will be tasked with developing an open and decentralized standard for social media.

Related: Twitter Promises Increased Transparency With New Privacy Center

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related: Bug in Twitter Android App Exposed Protected Tweets

Related: Bug Exposed Direct Messages of Millions of Twitter Users

Related: Bug Gives Twitter Apps More Permissions Than Shown

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Understand how to go beyond effectively communicating new security strategies and recommendations.

Register

Join us for an in depth exploration of the critical nature of software and vendor supply chain security issues with a focus on understanding how attacks against identity infrastructure come with major cascading effects.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Vulnerabilities

Less than a week after announcing that it would suspended service indefinitely due to a conflict with an (at the time) unnamed security researcher...

Data Breaches

OpenAI has confirmed a ChatGPT data breach on the same day a security firm reported seeing the use of a component affected by an...

IoT Security

A group of seven security researchers have discovered numerous vulnerabilities in vehicles from 16 car makers, including bugs that allowed them to control car...

Vulnerabilities

A researcher at IOActive discovered that home security systems from SimpliSafe are plagued by a vulnerability that allows tech savvy burglars to remotely disable...

Risk Management

The supply chain threat is directly linked to attack surface management, but the supply chain must be known and understood before it can be...

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.

Vulnerabilities

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft warns vulnerability (CVE-2023-23397) could lead to exploitation before an email is viewed in the Preview Pane.

Vulnerabilities

The latest Chrome update brings patches for eight vulnerabilities, including seven reported by external researchers.