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Facebook OAuth flaw allows gaining full control over any Facebook account

Facebook OAuth flaw allows gaining full control over any Facebook account

Feb 21, 2013
Facebook OAuth is used to communicate between Applications & Facebook users, to grant additional permissions to your favorite apps. To make this possible, users have to ' allow or accept ' the application request so that app can access your account information with required permissions. As a normal Facebook user we always think that it is better than entering your Facebook credentials, we can  just allow specific permissions to an app in order to make it work with your account. Today whitehat Hacker ' Nir Goldshlager ' reported ' The Hacker News ' that he discovered a very critical vulnerability in Facebook's OAuth system, that allowed him to get full control over any Facebook account easily even without ' allow or accept ' options. For this purpose he hunt the flaw in a very mannered way i.e Step 1) Understanding the OAuth URL Step 2) Finding a way to use custom parameters in URL Step 3) Bypassing OAuth ' Allow '
Another way to hack Facebook accounts using OAuth vulnerability

Another way to hack Facebook accounts using OAuth vulnerability

Apr 17, 2013
In recent few months White hat Hacker ,' Nir Goldshlager ' reported many critical bugs in Facebook OAuth  mechanism, that allowed an attacker to hijack any Facebook account without user's interaction.  Another hacker, ' Amine Cherrai ' reported a new Facebook OAuth flaw, whose exploitation is actually very similar to Nir Goldshlager 's findings but with a new un-patched way. Before reading further, I would like to suggest you to read following post to understand the basic exploitation mechanism: Facebook OAuth flaw allows gaining full control over any Facebook account Facebook hacking accounts using another OAuth vulnerability URL Redirection flaw in Facebook apps push OAuth vulnerability again in action Now, if you are aware about the vulnerability used against Facebook OAuth in  redirect_uri parameter in  the URL, there is another way that  Amine Cherrai found, to bypass the patch applied by Facebook  security team. He found another
5 Actionable Steps to Prevent GenAI Data Leaks Without Fully Blocking AI Usage

5 Actionable Steps to Prevent GenAI Data Leaks Without Fully Blocking AI Usage

Oct 01, 2024Generative AI / Data Protection
Since its emergence, Generative AI has revolutionized enterprise productivity. GenAI tools enable faster and more effective software development, financial analysis, business planning, and customer engagement. However, this business agility comes with significant risks, particularly the potential for sensitive data leakage. As organizations attempt to balance productivity gains with security concerns, many have been forced to choose between unrestricted GenAI usage to banning it altogether. A new e-guide by LayerX titled 5 Actionable Measures to Prevent Data Leakage Through Generative AI Tools is designed to help organizations navigate the challenges of GenAI usage in the workplace. The guide offers practical steps for security managers to protect sensitive corporate data while still reaping the productivity benefits of GenAI tools like ChatGPT. This approach is intended to allow companies to strike the right balance between innovation and security. Why Worry About ChatGPT? The e
Hacking Instagram Accounts using OAuth vulnerability

Hacking Instagram Accounts using OAuth vulnerability

May 02, 2013
' Nir Goldshlager ' known as Facebook hacker and founder of Break Security  , who reported many critical bugs in Facebook OAuth mechanism in past few months, today disclose a critical  vulnerability in Instagram Oauth that allow an attacker to hack any account. Succesful hack allows attacker to access private photos, ability to delete victim's photos and to edit comments and also the ability to post new photos. Hacker explained that there are two ways to hack Instagram accounts using OAuth, first via Hijack Instagram accounts using the Instagram OAuth or Hijack Instagram accounts using the Facebook OAuth Dialog. During his bug hunting Nir found loopholes in Instagram's security parameters i.e redirect_uri , that allows  attacker to pass the access token to his own domain with mx as suffix i.e code straight to breaksec.com.mx . POC :  https://instagram.com/oauth/authorize/?client_id=33221863eec546659f2564dd71a8a38d&redirect_uri=https://breaksec
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Facebook hacking accounts using another OAuth vulnerability

Facebook hacking accounts using another OAuth vulnerability

Mar 13, 2013
Remember the last OAuth Flaw in Facebook , that allow an attacker to hijack any account without victim's interaction with any Facebook Application, was reported by white hat Hacker ' Nir Goldshlager '. After that Facebook security team fixed that issue using some minor changes. Yesterday Goldshlager once again pwn Facebook OAuth mechanism by bypassing all those minor changes done by Facebook Team. He explains the complete Saga of hunting Facebook  bug in a blog post. As explained in last report on The hacker News , OAuth URL contains two parameters i.e.  redirect_uri &   next , and using Regex Protection (%23xxx!,%23/xxx,/) Facebook team tried to secure that after last patch. In recent discovered technique hacker found that next parameter allow  facebook.facebook.com domain as a valid option and multiple hash signs is now enough to bypass Regex Protection. He use facebook.com/l.php file (used by Facebook to redirect users to external links) to redirect victims to
Nasty Covert Redirect Vulnerability found in OAuth and OpenID

Nasty Covert Redirect Vulnerability found in OAuth and OpenID

May 03, 2014
After Heartbleed bug , a security flaw in widely used open-source software OpenSSL that puts countless websites at risk, another vulnerability has been found in popular authentication software OpenID and authorization software OAuth. Wang Jing , a Chinese mathematics Ph.D student at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, found that the OAuth and OpenID open source login tools are vulnerable to the " Covert Redirect " exploit. The login tools ' OAuth ' and 'OpenID' protocols are the commonly used open standard for authorization. OAuth designed as a way for users to sign in or sign up for other services using an existing identity of a site such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft or Twitter, whereas OpenID is a decentralized authentication system for the Internet that allows users to log in at websites across the internet with same digital identity. The Covert Redirect vulnerability could affect those who use 'OAuth' and 'OpenID' protocols to 'login' to the websites
URL Redirection flaw in Facebook apps push OAuth vulnerability again in action

URL Redirection flaw in Facebook apps push OAuth vulnerability again in action

Apr 04, 2013
In earlier posts, our Facebook hacker ' Nir Goldshlager ' exposed two serious Facebook oAuth Flaws. One, Hacking a Facebook account even without the user installing an application on their account and second, various ways to bypassing the regex protection in Facebook OAuth. This time, Nir illustrated a scenario attack  " what happens when a application is installed on the victim's account and how an attacker can manipulate it so easily " According to hacker, if the victim has an installed application like Skype or Dropbox, still hacker is able to take control over their accounts.  For this, an attacker required only a url redirection or cross site scripting  vulnerability on the Facebook owner app domain i.e in this scenario we are talking about skype facebook app. In many bug bounty programs URL redirection is not considered as an valid vulnerability for reward i.e Google Bug bounty Program. Nir also demonstrated that an attacker is even able to ga
Over 1 Billion Mobile App Accounts can be Hijacked Remotely with this Simple Hack

Over 1 Billion Mobile App Accounts can be Hijacked Remotely with this Simple Hack

Nov 05, 2016
Security researchers have discovered a way to target a huge number of Android and iOS apps that could allow them to remotely sign into any victim's mobile app account without any knowledge of the victim. A group of three researchers – Ronghai Yang, Wing Cheong Lau, and Tianyu Liu – from the Chinese University of Hong Kong has found [ PPT ] that most of the popular mobile apps that support single sign-on (SSO) service have insecurely implemented OAuth 2.0. OAuth 2.0 is an open standard for authorization that allows users to sign in for other third-party services by verifying existing identity of their Google, Facebook, or Chinese firm Sina accounts. This process enables users to sign-in to any service without providing additional usernames or passwords. How are app developers required to implement OAuth? (Right Way) When a user logs into a third party app via OAuth, the app checks with the ID provider, let's say, Facebook, that it has correct authentication details. I
Hacking Facebook users just from chat box using multiple vulnerabilities

Hacking Facebook users just from chat box using multiple vulnerabilities

Apr 17, 2013
Nir Goldshlager , Founder/CEO at Break Security known for finding serious flaws in Facebook once again on The Hacker News for  sharing his new finding i.e Stored Cross-site Scripting (XSS) in Facebook Chat, Check In and Facebook Messenger. Stored Cross-site Scripting ( XSS ) is the most dangerous type of Cross Site Scripting. Web applications where the injected code is permanently stored on the target servers, such as in a database, in a message forum, visitor log, comment field, etc 1.) Stored XSS In Facebook Chat: This vulnerability can be used to conduct a number of browser-based attacks including, Hijacking another user's browser, Capturing sensitive information viewed by application users, Malicious code is executed by the user's browser etc. When a user starts a new message within Facebook that has a link inside, a preview GUI shows up for that post. The GUI is used for presenting the link post using a parameter i.e  attachment[params][title],attac
Facebook SDK Vulnerability Puts Millions of Smartphone Users' Accounts at Risk

Facebook SDK Vulnerability Puts Millions of Smartphone Users' Accounts at Risk

Jul 03, 2014
Security researchers from MetaIntell, the leader in intelligent led Mobile Risk Management (MRM), have discovered a major security vulnerability in the latest version of Facebook SDK that put millions of Facebook user's Authentication Tokens at risk. Facebook SDK for Android and iOS is the easiest way to integrate mobile apps with Facebook platform, which provides support for Login with Facebook authentication, reading and writing to Facebook APIs and many more. Facebook OAuth authentication or ' Login as Facebook ' mechanism is a personalized and secure way for users to sign into 3rd party apps without sharing their passwords. After the user approves the permissions as requested by the application, the Facebook SDK implements the OAuth 2.0 User-Agent flow to retrieve the secret user's access token required by the apps to call Facebook APIs to read, modify or write user's Facebook data on their behalf. ACCESSING UNENCRYPTED ACCESS TOKEN It is important that
Hacking Facebook Account with 'Reconnect' Tool

Hacking Facebook Account with 'Reconnect' Tool

Mar 11, 2015
" Signup or Login with Facebook " ?? You might think twice before doing that next time. A security researcher has discovered a critical flaw that allows hackers take over Facebook accounts on websites that leverage ' Login with Facebook ' feature. The vulnerability doesn't grant hackers access to your actual Facebook password, but it does allow them to access your accounts using Facebook application developed by third-party websites such as Bit.ly , Mashable , Vimeo , About.me , Stumbleupon , Angel.co and possibly many more. FLAW EXPLOITS THREE CSRFs PROTECTION Egor Homakov , a researcher with pentesting company Sakurity, made the social network giant aware of the bug a year ago, but the company refused to fix the vulnerability because doing so would have ruined compatibility of Facebook with a vast number of websites over the Internet. The critical flaw abuses the lack of CSRF ( Cross-Site Request Forgery ) protection for three different proce
Facebook Open URL Redirection vulnerability

Facebook Open URL Redirection vulnerability

Nov 16, 2013
Security Researcher Dan Melamed discovered an Open URL redirection vulnerability in Facebook that allowed him to have a facebook.com link redirect to any website without restrictions. An open URL Redirection flaw is generally used to convince a user to click on a trusted link which is specially crafted to take them to an arbitrary website, the target website could be used to serve a malware or for a phishing attack . An Open URL Redirection url flaw in Facebook platform and third party applications also exposes the user's access token at risk if that link is entered as the final destination in an Oauth dialog . The Facebook Open URL Redirection vulnerability exists at landing.php  page with " url " parameter, i.e. https://facebook.com/campaign/landing.php?url=https://yahoo.com This URL will always redirects user to the Facebook 's homepage, but it is sufficient to manipulate the "url" parameter assigning a random string: https://facebo
Security breach at OAuth based applications can cause Social Media Disaster

Security breach at OAuth based applications can cause Social Media Disaster

Oct 28, 2013
With all the popular social networking websites there on the web, managing them from several different internet browser tabs or windows can get frustrated very quickly. Besides our own Facebook Page, Twitter account, and Google+ profile, I also manage several others and, YES, I feel the " time management " pain! To make social media management and monitoring easier for users, some very innovative desktop applications and mobile apps were developed to help organize multiple platforms and information sharing across selected networks. Using online tools like TweetDeck, Seesmic, Hootsuite , Feedly, Twuffer and Buffer App for scheduling and posting directly from a web page has become an absolute necessity especially where Twitter is concerned. Additionally these apps gives you the ability to post on one or all of your connected accounts together i.e Multiple Facebook, Twitter or Google+ profiles. These applications don't require your passwords for social me
Beware! Facebook UnfriendAlert Software Steals Your Account Password

Beware! Facebook UnfriendAlert Software Steals Your Account Password

Jun 06, 2015
Today everybody wants to know — Who visited my Facebook profile?, Who unfriended me from the Facebook Friend list?, Who saw my Facebook posts?, and many other features that isn't provided by Facebook by default. So most Facebook users try to find out a software and fall victim to one that promises to accomplish their desired task. Hackers make use of this weakness and often design malicious programs in order to victimize broad audience. Following I am going to disclose the realities behind one such software designed cleverly to trick Facebook users to make them believe it is genuine. UnfriendAlert , a free application that notifies you whenever someone removes you from the Facebook friend list, has been found collecting its users' Facebook credentials. UnfriendAlert Stealing your Facebook Credentials: Security researchers at Malwarebytes have warned users of the UnfriendAlert app saying that the notorious app asks users to login with their Facebook
Critical OAuth Flaws Uncovered in Grammarly, Vidio, and Bukalapak Platforms

Critical OAuth Flaws Uncovered in Grammarly, Vidio, and Bukalapak Platforms

Oct 25, 2023
Critical security flaws have been disclosed in the Open Authorization (OAuth) implementation of popular online services such as Grammarly, Vidio, and Bukalapak, building upon previous shortcomings uncovered in  Booking[.]com and Expo . The weaknesses, now addressed by the respective companies following responsible disclosure between February and April 2023, could have allowed malicious actors to obtain access tokens and potentially hijack user accounts. OAuth is a  standard  that's commonly used as a mechanism for cross-application access, granting websites or applications access to their information on other websites, such as Facebook, but without giving them the passwords. "When OAuth is used to provide service authentication, any security breach in it can lead to identity theft, financial fraud, and access to various personal information including credit card numbers, private messages, health records, and more, depending on the specific service being attacked," Sa
Hacking Facebook User 'Access Token' with Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Hacking Facebook User 'Access Token' with Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Mar 11, 2014
Facebook has several security measures to protect users' account, such as a user " access token " is granted to the Facebook application (like  Candy Crush Saga, Lexulous Word Game ), when the user authorizes it, it provides temporary and secure access to Facebook APIs. To make this possible, users have to ' allow or accep t' the application request so that an app can access your account information with the required permissions. The Access Token stores information about permissions that have been granted as well as information about when the token will expire and which app generated it. Approved Facebook apps can publish or delete content on your behalf using the access tokens, rather than your Facebook password. Access tokens are pretty sensitive, because anyone who knows the access token of a user can access the user's data and can perform any actions on behalf of the user, till the token is valid. In Past years, Many Security Researchers
A New Cryptocurrency Mining Virus is Spreading Through Facebook

A New Cryptocurrency Mining Virus is Spreading Through Facebook

May 01, 2018
If you receive a link for a video, even if it looks exciting, sent by someone (or your friend) on Facebook messenger—just don't click on it without taking a second thought. Cybersecurity researchers from Trend Micro are warning users of a malicious Chrome extension which is spreading through Facebook Messenger and targeting users of cryptocurrency trading platforms to steal their accounts' credentials. Dubbed FacexWorm , the attack technique used by the malicious extension first emerged in August last year, but researchers noticed the malware re-packed a few new malicious capabilities earlier this month. New capabilities include stealing account credentials from websites, like Google and cryptocurrency sites, redirecting victims to cryptocurrency scams, injecting miners on the web page for mining cryptocurrency, and redirecting victims to the attacker's referral link for cryptocurrency-related referral programs. It is not the first malware to abuse Facebook Messenger
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