WhatsApp bug: Install the latest update to fix it

The Indian cyber security agency, Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In), has warned WhatsApp users against a vulnerability having a high potential to attack the popular instant messaging app via an MP4 file and compromise individual system without seeking permissions.

The CERT-In is the nodal agency to combat hacking, phishing and to fortify security-related defences of the Indian internet domain.

The agency issued an advisory to app users under its ‘high severity rating’ section of their website. “A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in WhatsApp due to improper parsing of elementary metadata of an MP4 file. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a special crafted MP4 file to the target system. This could trigger a buffer overflow condition leading to execution of arbitrary code by the attacker.