Check Point Research recently said it discovered that the latest versions of some of the most popular apps on Google, including Facebook and Instagram, have vulnerabilities that were believed to have been patched in the past. The research shows that hackers can still execute code in the latest versions of mobile apps on the Play Store, despite security updates that users have applied.
In short, hackers can gain complete control over the applications we download.
Theoretically, hackers can steal and change posts on Facebook, extract location data from Instagram and read SMS on WeChat, the research said.
In a month-long study, Check Point Research investigated the latest versions of these mobile apps for three known remote control execution (RCE) vulnerabilities dating back to 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Each vulnerability was given two signatures. Check Point Research then ran its static engine to examine hundreds of mobile apps on Google's Play Store to see if the vulnerable code was still present in the latest version of the app.
Check Point Research finally found the vulnerable code, which was supposedly removed, but is present in the latest versions of popular mobile apps.
For now, Check Point is urging people to install an antivirus app that monitors vulnerable apps on their phone.
Check Point Research said it had notified the apps as well as Google about the vulnerabilities.
The revelations come amid a crisis that hit WhatsApp due to the Israeli spyware Pegasus that exploited a vulnerability in the messaging platform, affecting 1,400 selected users worldwide, including over 100 in India.
So, make sure that every time you download an app from the Google Play Store, its origin is carefully checked.
