Facebook corrected a vulnerability in the Android Messenger app, allowing attackers to spy on users without their knowledge.
The Android Messenger app has been installed across more than a billion Android devices, according to the app's official page within the Google Play Store.
Natalie Silvanovich, a security researcher with Google's Project Zero security team, discovered the vulnerability.
The researcher said: The gap is present in the way the WebRTC protocol used by the Messenger platform application is applied to make voice and video calls.
The problem lies in the SDP protocol, which is part of the WebRTC protocol, and the SDP processes session data for WebRTC protocol connections.
Sylvanovich discovered that the SDP protocol message could be misused for automatic approval of WebRTC protocol connections without user intervention.
Exploiting the bug takes a few seconds, according to Sylvanovic's error report, however, the attacker must have permissions — that is, to be among the user's Facebook friends — to contact the person at the other end.
The researcher reported on Facebook last month, and the social media giant corrected it through a server update to the Messenger platform.
In a Twitter message, Sylvanovich said Facebook had given her a $60,000 bonus to report the problem.
The Google researcher chose to donate the reward to the non-profit organization GiveWell, which coordinates charitable activities.
Facebook, which also made its own $60,000 donation to GiveWell, said: The Sylvanovich Prize is one of the top three awards we have ever had at $60,000, reflecting the maximum potential impact.
In previous years, Sylvanovic also found and reported similar problems with other instant messaging applications, one of her areas of expertise.
In October 2018, I discovered an error in WhatsApp for Android and iOS that would have allowed attackers to take control of the app after the user responded to a video call.
In July 2019, the researcher found four non-interactive errors in the iMessage app, and in the same month discovered a fifth iMessage error that could have been used to sabotage iPhone devices.
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