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WhatsApp failure due to unreadable message!

02/10/2024

WhatsApp failure due to unreadable message!

The popular Messenger WhatsApp is frequently featured in our blog posts. In today’s blog post, we discuss a WhatsApp failure that could cause the app to crash and require reinstallation. This WhatsApp vulnerability is worth mentioning because it can be triggered by an unreadable message. How this message looks like and how you can protect yourself from this attack is explained in this article.

Unreadable message causes WhatsApp failure

The origin of these unreadable messages, also called “Scary Messages”, comes from Brazil, where according to WEBetaInfo they are a big and widespread problem. The message contains nothing but characters that cannot be read by WhatsApp. If you open such a message from your cell phone, the app will crash immediately. Afterwards the victims have no other option than to uninstall the app and then download it again.

The reason for this reaction on the part of the app is a bug, this bug causes a collection of characters that WhatsApp cannot read to cause the app to crash. The same bug can also be triggered when a virtual contact (VCF) is filled with unreadable characters and is opened in Messenger on a cell phone.

https://twitter.com/Ian_Oli_01/status/1294732138328338438

Protection against this attack

Protecting yourself against such messages is not so easy, because basically every WhatsApp user can write to all other WhatsApp users as long as they have the correct cell phone number. However, there are 2 ways to protect yourself relatively well against this attack and thus the WhatsApp disruption.

You should specify that you can only be added to groups by your contacts. Such messages are mostly distributed in groups so that as many people as possible can be attacked with minimal effort. This setting can be found and set under “Account” – “Privacy” – “Groups”.

Another option is to use WhatsApp in the period when this bug exists only via the desktop version WhatsApp-Web. If you open the dangerous messages via the desktop version nothing happens, because the bug exists only in the mobile versions of WhatsApp.

Chris Wojzechowski

Mein Name ist Chris Wojzechowski und ich habe vor wenigen Jahren meinen Master in Internet-Sicherheit in Gelsenkirchen studiert. Ich bin geschäftsführender Gesellschafter der AWARE7 GmbH und ausgebildeter IT-Risk Manager, IT-Grundschutz Praktiker (TÜV) und besitze die Prüfverfahrenskompetenz für § 8a BSIG. Unser Brot und Buttergeschäft ist die Durchführung von Penetrationstests. Wir setzen uns darüber hinaus für ein breites Verständnis für IT-Sicherheit in Europa ein und bieten aus diesem Grund den Großteil unserer Produkte kostenfrei an.

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