Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Facebook fills photo security hole

Facebook has filled a hole that allowed strangers to view members' photos through the mobile version of the site, a spokesman said Tuesday after being alerted to the problem by CNET News Monday night.

"Today, we learned that certain photos could be viewed by unauthorized users who employed a complicated hack," a spokesman wrote in an e-mail. "Once we were notified of the issue, it was resolved within hours. These photos are no longer available to unauthorized users. We encourage security researchers examining Facebook to practice responsible disclosure."

Basically, someone who knew the serial number of a Facebook user, which is easy to get, and knew a trick for rejiggering the URL, could see private photos of that user. Small photos could also be changed to display in a larger size. The vulnerability only could be exploited with Firefox browsers.
Source : CNET