CVE-2017-8769

medium

Description

Facebook WhatsApp Messenger before 2.16.323 for Android uses the SD card for cleartext storage of files (Audio, Documents, Images, Video, and Voice Notes) associated with a chat, even after that chat is deleted. There may be users who expect file deletion to occur upon chat deletion, or who expect encryption (consistent with the application's use of an encrypted database to store chat text). NOTE: the vendor reportedly indicates that they do not "consider these to be security issues" because a user may legitimately want to preserve any file for use "in other apps like the Google Photos gallery" regardless of whether its associated chat is deleted

References

https://wwws.nightwatchcybersecurity.com/2017/05/17/advisory-whatsapp-for-android-privacy-issues-with-handling-of-media-files-cve-2017-8769/

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/100906

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2017-05-18

Updated: 2026-06-17

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 2.1

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Severity: Low

CVSS v3

Base Score: 4.6

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Severity: Medium

EPSS

EPSS: 0.00022