Security News > 2020 > September > Major Instagram App Bug Could've Given Hackers Remote Access to Your Phone

In a report shared with The Hacker News today, Check Point researchers disclosed details about a critical vulnerability in Instagram's Android app that could have allowed remote attackers to take control over a targeted device just by sending victims a specially crafted image.

According to an advisory published by Facebook, the heap overflow security issue impacts all versions of the Instagram app prior to 128.0.0.26.128, which was released on February 10 earlier this year.

According to Check Point, the memory corruption vulnerability allows for remote code execution that, given Instagram's extensive permissions to access a user's camera, contacts, GPS, photo library, and microphone, could be leveraged to perform any malicious action on the infected device.

Once the recipient saves the image to the device and launches Instagram, the exploitation takes place automatically, granting the attacker full control over the app.

Even worse, the exploit can be used to crash a user's Instagram app and render it inaccessible unless it's removed and reinstalled all over again on the device.

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