Mac users, update your ChatGPT app now to fix a security flaw
- by autobot
- July 4, 2024
- Source article
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In response to a recently discovered security vulnerability, OpenAI has updated its . The security vulnerability in question . This issue was first highlighted when developer Pedro José Pereira Vieito demonstrated that ChatGPT conversations could be easily accessed and read by other applications on the same computer. He was curious why OpenAI opted out of using the app sandbox protections and went ahead looking for where the app data was stored. As it turned out, it was stored locally on devices in plain text. as long as they knew where to look for the file. Vieito created a proof-of-concept app that could display users' ChatGPT interactions immediately after they occurred. Here is the demo showcasing the flaw. The OpenAI ChatGPT app on macOS is not sandboxed and stores all the conversations in **plain-text** in a non-protected location:
~/Library/Application\ Support/com.openai.chat/conversations-{uuid}/
So basically any other app / malware can read all your ChatGPT conversations:
Upon being alerted to the issue by The Verge, and said they there were aware of the problem. OpenAI spokesperson, Taya Christianson said: We are aware of this issue and have shipped a new version of the application which encrypts these conversations. We’re committed to providing a helpful user experience while maintaining our high security standards as our technology evolves. If you haven’t already done so, users of the ChatGPT macOS app are strongly advised to update to the latest version to ensure that their conversations are properly encrypted. Source: