Check Point discloses a critical vulnerability in Instagram allowing to turn a phone into a spying tool

Security researchers at Check Point identified a critical vulnerability in Instagram, the popular photo and video sharing app with over 1 billion users worldwide. The vulnerability would have given an attacker the ability to take over a victim’s Instagram account and turn their phone into a spying tool, simply by sending them a malicious image file. When the image is saved and opened in the target’s Instagram app, the exploit would give the hacker full access to the victim’s Instagram messages and images, allowing them to post or delete images at will, as well as giving access to the phone’s contacts, camera and location data.

How the attack works