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CVE-2017-8769· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

Facebook WhatsApp Messenger before 2.16.323 for Android uses the SD card for cleartext storage of files (Audio, Documents, Images, Video, an

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

MediumCVSS 4.6 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
May 18, 2017
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 10th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

18

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
18 / 40 · 4.6 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
whatsappwhatsapp

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • whatsapp whatsappbefore 2.16.323

Same product

whatsapp: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-18426A vulnerability in WhatsApp Desktop versions prior to 0.3.9309 when paired with WhatsApp for iPhone versions prior to 2.20.10 allows cross-sKEV
    82Now
  • CVE-2019-3568A buffer overflow vulnerability in WhatsApp VOIP stack allowed remote code execution via specially crafted series of RTCP packets sent to a KEV
    78This week
  • CVE-2025-55177Incomplete authorization of linked device synchronization messages in WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.25.21.73, WhatsApp Business for iOS v2.25KEV
    52Plan
  • CVE-2019-11932A double free vulnerability in the DDGifSlurp function in decoding.c in the android-gif-drawable library before version 1.2.18, as used in W
    48Plan
  • CVE-2022-36934An integer overflow in WhatsApp could result in remote code execution in an established video call.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2020-1909A use-after-free in a logging library in WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.20.111 and WhatsApp Business for iOS prior to v2.20.111 could have res
    40Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Physical access to the device is required.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Physical
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-311 · Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records