14 DAY TRIAL // Android users have discovered a peculiar bug that causes the some of the SMS messages to be displayed in the Google App, through the Search Bar.
Some people are looking for problems and vulnerabilities in Android, and other stumble upon them by mistake. The same happened with this strange bug, which will probably be fixed in the upcoming weeks. A couple of users found it, and now it’s making everyone curious.
To be fair, it’s not really something dangerous, at least for now, and it doesn’t expose the SMS texts to other people. But, at the same time, it could be a possible vulnerability because of the way the Google App is interpreting the code from a website.
In the unlikely event
A Reddit user found out, by mistake, that if he entered "the1975..com" (without the quotes), a list with all the SMS messages is shown within the Google App. Another user found out that the same result could be achieved by entering "Vizela viagens".
Both users were just looking for something and made a small mistake. The bug doesn’t present itself if you enter the right address. In any case, how does this happen?
For now, the Android user community is just guessing, but it seems that a code in the website is executed in such a way that the Google App shows up the messages. Approximately the same result can be achieved if you ask the Google Assistant to show all the text messages.
At first glance, it’s not a major problem, but it does tell us that certain types of code can be executed when accessing a website. And that’s not reassuring in any way.
What’s even more interesting is that the problem is not new and goes back to older versions of Android. One user tested in on Android 6.0, but it’s the same issue with Samsung S9.
And, the cherry on top is the iOS exception. It turns out that the same code could, in theory, be run on iOS as well, through Google Assistant, but the OS lacks the functionality to display text messages. It’s not that it doesn’t work, it’s just that it can’t work.
