WhatsApp’s “View Once” feature, designed for ephemeral media sharing, had a major privacy flaw—allowing iPhone users to view supposedly disappearing photos and videos multiple times.
Bug Allowed Easy Reaccess to ‘View Once’ Media
Cybersecurity researcher Ramshath discovered the bug, which was shockingly easy to exploit. Users could simply navigate to:
Settings > Storage and Data > Manage Storage
By sorting the sender’s chat by “Newest”, the supposedly deleted media remained accessible.
Meta Knew About the Issue—But Fixed It Quickly
Ramshath reported the flaw through Meta’s bug bounty program, but the company was already aware and working on a fix.
WhatsApp version 25.2.3 for iOS has now patched the issue, and users are urged to update for proper privacy protection.
Not the First Time ‘View Once’ Had Issues
This isn’t WhatsApp’s first failure with disappearing media. In September 2024, security researchers found that “View Once” files were still accessible via direct URLs, as they remained stored on WhatsApp’s servers. That flaw was later patched.
For now, iPhone users should update immediately—or risk their private media being not-so-private.
