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WhatsApp fixes video call bug that could have let hackers in, says report

The company has released a fix for iOS and Android users.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
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WhatsApp has reportedly fixed a bug that could've given hackers control of a user's app through video calls.

The maker of the chat app released a fix for the iOS version on Oct. 3 and updated the Android version on Sept. 28. Hackers could've seized a user's WhatsApp when he or she answered an incoming video call, according to CNET sister site ZDNet.

A security researcher at Google's Project Zero reportedly discovered the flaw in August. The "memory corruption bug" affected WhatsApp's use of Real-Time Transport Protocol for video calls, ZDNet said. RTP is the technology used to transmit audio and video over IP networks. Web users weren't affected.

WhatsApp didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.