Google Pixel vulnerability permits unhealthy actors to undo Markup screenshot edits and redactions

When Google started rolling out Android’s , the corporate addressed a “Excessive” severity vulnerability involving the Pixel’s Markup screenshot device. Over the weekend, and , the reverse engineers who found CVE-2023-21036, shared extra details about the safety flaw, revealing Pixel customers are nonetheless susceptible to their older photographs being compromised as a result of nature of Google’s oversight.

In brief, the “aCropalypse” flaw allowed somebody to take a PNG screenshot cropped in Markup and undo a minimum of among the edits within the picture. It’s simple to think about eventualities the place a foul actor might abuse that functionality. For example, if a Pixel proprietor used Markup to redact a picture that included delicate details about themselves, somebody might exploit the flaw to disclose that info. You could find the technical particulars on .

In line with Buchanan, the flaw has existed for about 5 years, coinciding with the discharge of Markup alongside . And therein lies the issue. Whereas March’s safety patch will forestall Markup from compromising future photographs, some screenshots Pixel customers could have shared previously are nonetheless in danger.

It’s laborious to say how involved Pixel customers must be concerning the flaw. In line with a forthcoming Aarons and Buchanan shared with and , some web sites, together with Twitter, course of photographs in such a means that somebody couldn’t exploit the vulnerability to reverse edit a screenshot or picture. Customers on different platforms aren’t so fortunate. Aarons and Buchanan particularly establish Discord, noting the chat app didn’t patch out the exploit till its current January seventeenth replace. In the intervening time, it’s unclear if photographs shared on different social media and chat apps had been left equally weak.

Google didn’t instantly reply to Engadget’s request for remark and extra info. The March safety replace is at the moment out there on the Pixel 4a, 5a, 7 and seven Professional, that means Markup can nonetheless produce weak photographs on some Pixel gadgets. It’s unclear when Google will push the patch to different Pixel gadgets. Should you personal a Pixel telephone with out the patch, keep away from utilizing Markup to share delicate photographs.