A programming bug in Facebook website accidentally gave 1,500 third-party apps access to the unposted Facebook photos of as many as 6.8 million users.
Facebook today quietly announced that it discovered a new API bug in its photo-sharing system that let 876 developers access users’ private photos which they never shared on their timeline, including images uploaded to Marketplace or Facebook Stories.
“When someone gives permission for an app to access their photos on Facebook, we usually only grant the app access to photos people share on their timeline. In this case, the bug potentially gave developers access to other photos, such as those shared on Marketplace or Facebook Stories,” Facebook said.
What’s worse? The bug even exposed photos that people uploaded to Facebook but chose not to post or didn’t finish posting it for some reason.
The flaw left users’ private data exposed for 12 days, between September 13th and September 25th, until Facebook discovered and fixed the security blunder on the 25th September.
“Currently, we believe this may have affected up to 6.8 million users and up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. The only apps affected by this bug were ones that Facebook approved to access the photos API and that individuals had authorized to access their photos,” Facebook said.
Source: The Hacker News
