Skype confirms privacy bug that sends IMs to unintended recipients
Contributed by: Email on 07/17/2012 10:46 AM
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Skype has confirmed that its VoIP software contains a bug which could result in instant messages (IMs) being sent to unintended recipients. The privacy bug was first reported in the Skype Support Network forums by a user who, after an update to their Skype client last month, encountered the problem in which some of their messages went to another contact. Following this report, a number of other users also confirmed having experienced the problem.
According to Skype, the privacy problem only occurs following a crash of a user's Skype client during an IM session. When the client is restarted or is logged in as a new user, IM messages entered or sent prior to the crash can, in some cases, be sent to a different IM contact in the user's list. While the company notes that it was not able to determine how many users are affected by the error, it believes that it only happens in "very rare cases".
Affected Skype clients include version 5.9 and 5.10 for Windows, Skype 5.8 for Mac OS X, Skype 4.0 for Linux, Skype 4.0 for iOS, Skype 2.8 for Android and Skype 1.2 for Windows Phone. The company says that it is currently working on a fix to correct the problem and that updated versions of Skype should be available "in the next few days".
Update 17-07-12: The developers at Skype have now released hotfix updates for the Windows, Mac OS X and Linux Skype clients. The new updates – Skype 5.10.0.116 for Windows, Skype 5.8.0.1207 for Mac, and Skype 4.0.0.8 for Linux – reportedly fix the privacy bug that plagued some users. They are also said to correct a problem related to saving files to drives formatted as FAT32.
The company originally stated that Skype for Windows 5.9, Skype 4.0 for iOS and Skype 2.8 for Android were affected, however, after further investigation by the developers these were found not to be vulnerable to the problem. Users can upgrade to the new releases using the built-in update tool or by downloading the new versions from skype.com/go/getskype.
According to Skype, the privacy problem only occurs following a crash of a user's Skype client during an IM session. When the client is restarted or is logged in as a new user, IM messages entered or sent prior to the crash can, in some cases, be sent to a different IM contact in the user's list. While the company notes that it was not able to determine how many users are affected by the error, it believes that it only happens in "very rare cases".
Affected Skype clients include version 5.9 and 5.10 for Windows, Skype 5.8 for Mac OS X, Skype 4.0 for Linux, Skype 4.0 for iOS, Skype 2.8 for Android and Skype 1.2 for Windows Phone. The company says that it is currently working on a fix to correct the problem and that updated versions of Skype should be available "in the next few days".
Update 17-07-12: The developers at Skype have now released hotfix updates for the Windows, Mac OS X and Linux Skype clients. The new updates – Skype 5.10.0.116 for Windows, Skype 5.8.0.1207 for Mac, and Skype 4.0.0.8 for Linux – reportedly fix the privacy bug that plagued some users. They are also said to correct a problem related to saving files to drives formatted as FAT32.
The company originally stated that Skype for Windows 5.9, Skype 4.0 for iOS and Skype 2.8 for Android were affected, however, after further investigation by the developers these were found not to be vulnerable to the problem. Users can upgrade to the new releases using the built-in update tool or by downloading the new versions from skype.com/go/getskype.
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