Vulnerability in Whatsapp
CVE-2017-8769
Facebook WhatsApp Messenger before 2.16.323 for Android uses the SD card for cleartext storage of files (Audio, Documents, Images, Video, and Voice Notes) associated with a chat, even after that chat is deleted. There may be users who expect file deletion to occur upon chat deletion, or who expect encryption (consistent with the application's use of an encrypted database to store chat text). NOTE: the vendor reportedly indicates that they do not "consider these to be security issues" because a user may legitimately want to preserve any file for use "in other apps like the Google Photos gallery" regardless of whether its associated chat is deleted
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 4.6 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (9.5th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 10th percentile — 9.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- wwws.nightwatchcybersecurity.com/2017/05/17/advisory-whatsapp-for-android-priva… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, Mitigation)
- www.securityfocus.com/bid/100906 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2017-8769?
- CVE-2017-8769 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Whatsapp, classified under Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data. CVSS score: 4.6/10. Published 2017-05-18.
- How severe is CVE-2017-8769?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.6 out of 10.