ID: IRCNE2011121336
Date: 2011-12-07
According to “CNet”, a hole in Facebook's account-reporting process potentially lets any user sneak a peek at someone else's private photos.
The process requires you first to report or block that individual's Facebook account. From there, clicking on the option "Inappropriate photo profile" moves you to the next screen where you're asked why you find the photo inappropriate.
Clicking on the option to report the photo to Facebook then brings you to another window that says: "Help us take action by reporting additional photos to include with your report." Clicking on that last option reportedly reveals a page of thumbnail photos from or of that person, some of which could be private.
Some said that the flaw is blocked in some browsers but not in other.
Confirming the photo flaw, a Facebook spokesperson said:
"Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously. The bug allowed anyone to view a limited number of another user's most recently uploaded photos irrespective of the privacy settings for these photos. This was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time. Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm the bug has been fixed."
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