A security researcher named Andrew Leonov has discovered a critical remote code execution bug on Facebook. This allows him to breach the security of the social media giant using ImageMagick flaw which was previously patched in 2016. Andrew was successful in using the bug to carry the attack against the Facebook servers.
In his blog post, Andrew explained that he reported this issue to Facebook back in October 2016 but the ImageMagick bug is still relevant and active in Facebook. Andrew was awarded $40,000 for providing Facebook security team with an in-depth proof of concept (PoC) and they said they have patched it.
AAndrew explained that all of this happened unintentionally when he was searching for a flaw in a different service which then redirected him on Facebook and further analysing it allowed him to discover the remote execution bug.
“Once upon a time on Saturday in October I was testing some big service (not the Facebook) when some redirect followed me on Facebook. It was a “Share on Facebook” dialogue. “I am glad to be the one of those who broke the Facebook,” said Leonov.
You must be noted that the largest payment awarded ever given by Facebook as a part of its bug bounty program was $33,500 to Reginaldo Silva back in 2014, he also reported a similar remote code execution bug. To confirm the payment, The Register has contacted Facebook.
By the time of publishing this article, there was not a single official statement from Facebook or CrowdBug confirming whether Leonov was awarded $40,000. However, this is not the first time when ImageMagick security flaw is in the news for all the wrong reasons. In 2016, a hacker used the same flaw to destroy Fur Affinity Art Gallery website.