The Social Messaging app WhatsApp has been open about its bugs and vulnerabilities recently. To be vocal about the issue, the company has set up a dedicated website that will work as a security advisory and inform users about the latest developments on issues and bugs in WhatsApp. Owned by social media giant Facebook, WhatsApp, with a current user base of around 2 million, has set up the website as an initiative to keep the community informed about security and be more transparent with its users.
The dedicated website is not limited to WhatsApp users but open to the entire cybersecurity community. The move comes as a response to the criticisms that WhatsApp faced over its handling of security issues. The dedicated platform will give users detailed reports of security updates related to WhatsApp, along with CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) details. The updates will help cybersecurity experts to know the effect of these bugs and vulnerabilities.
WhatsApp reported six security bugs that it had recently discovered. The company had released security patches for these six bugs before the hackers could exploit them. Few of the bugs could be remotely launched. CVE-2020-1890, an android based WhatsApp bug, sent the recipients sticker, which contained malicious codes. The bug could be deployed without user interaction. Few bugs, however, required user interaction and couldn't be launched remotely. CVE-2019-11928 bug became active when a desktop WhatsApp user clicked any location link, allowing cross-site scripting. WhatsApp says that it will keep the community updated about the latest developments through its advisory platform, trying to release security patches as soon as possible.
According to reports, five of the six bugs were patched on the same day; however, the last bug took quite some time. "We are very committed to transparency, and this resource is intended to help the broader technology community benefit from the latest advances in our security efforts. We strongly encourage all users to ensure they keep their WhatsApp up-to-date from their respective app stores and update their mobile operating systems whenever updates are available," says WhatsApp.
