Another venture associated with Google has failed at protecting users’ privacy. This time, the flaw lies in Android TV devices. As revealed, Android TV devices have a severe vulnerability that exposes Google Photos of users to others.
Serious Flaw In Android TV Devices
Researchers from XDA Developers have elaborated a security vulnerability in Android TV devices. This flaw could potentially result in leaking users’ Google Photos. They have shed light on this problem in their blog post.
Reportedly, an Indian user Prashant first noticed the bug which he shared in one of his tweets.
When I access my Vu Android TV through the @Google Home app, and check the linked accounts, it basically lists what I imagine is every single person who owns this television. This is shocking incompetence. pic.twitter.com/5DGwrArsco
— Prashanth (@wothadei) March 3, 2019
Then, he further shared that he might also be able to view private Google Photos of other users. Precisely, he saw a list of linked users appearing under the settings tab.
I'm shook. What does this mean? Are my photos visible to someone else? Should I take my photos off @googlephotos?@verge @Gizmodo @AndroidAuth @androidcentral @AndroidPolice https://t.co/DbpJoUckWZ
— Prashanth (@wothadei) March 3, 2019
Prashant spotted this issue with his VU Android TV. But, further discussion on his tweet revealed that Android devices by IFFALCO also exhibit the same vulnerability. Moreover, a user could even view other users’ photos in Ambient Mode.
This happened to me too! One time I even started to see someones photos during Ambient Mode.
— Luke Żammit ✍️ (@AlphaWings) March 4, 2019
It eventually turned out the problem existed at the level of the Google Home app. This could consequently affect other Android Smart TVs too. As reported by XDA Developers, Vu Televisions also confirmed the same.
“Vu Televisions were recently informed about a malfunction of the Google Home App in an Android TV. After verifying the incident Vu Televisions informed Google who has confirmed it was a software malfunction of the Google Home App”
Google’s Response
Google took notice of Prashant’s complaint and the following complaints reporting the same issue. Initially, they suggested various methods to resolve the problem, such as resetting the TV. But nothing worked! Eventually, they disabled Google Photos for Android TV as an immediate remedy.
Hey Luke, thanks for the tweet. We wanted to let you know that we’re looking into this. We take any report like this very seriously, so in the meantime, we’re disabling Google Photos for Android TV and the ability to remotely cast via the Google Assistant.
— Made By Google (@madebygoogle) March 4, 2019
For now, no permanent fix is available. Yet, Google is working to patch the flaw quickly. Vu Televisions also confirmed it.
“We thank our customer who brought this to our notice, and we can confirm that Google is rectifying their fault immediately.”
We shall update our readers as soon as we hear of any developments in this regard.
