{“lastseen”:”2026-02-09T16:05:11″,”description”:”An independent security researcher uncovered a major data breach affecting Chat \\u0026 Ask AI, one of the most popular AI chat apps on Google Play and Apple App Store, with more than 50 million users.\\n\\nThe researcher claims to have accessed 300 million messages from over 25 million users due to an exposed database. These messages reportedly included, among other things, discussions of illegal activities and requests for suicide assistance.\\n\\nBehind the scenes, Chat \\u0026 Ask AI is a \u201cwrapper\u201d app that plugs into various large language models (LLMs) from other companies, including OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google\u2019s Gemini. Users can choose which model they want to interact with.\\n\\nThe exposed data included user files containing their entire chat history, the models used, and other settings. But it also revealed data belonging to users of other apps developed by Codeway\u2014the developer of Chat \\u0026 Ask AI.\\n\\nThe vulnerability behind this data breach is a well-known and documented Firebase misconfiguration. Firebase is a cloud-based backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform provided by Google that helps developers build, manage, and scale mobile and web applications.\\n\\nSecurity researchers often refer to a set of preventable errors in how developers set up Google Firebase services, which leave backend data, databases, and storage buckets accessible to the public without authentication.\\n\\nOne of the most common Firebase misconfigurations is leaving Security Rules set to public. This allows anyone with the project URL to read, modify, or delete data without authentication. \\n\\nThis prompted the researcher to create a tool that automatically scans apps on Google Play and Apple App Store for this vulnerability\u2014with astonishing results. Reportedly, the researcher, named Harry, found that 103 out of 200 iOS apps they scanned had this issue, collectively exposing tens of millions of stored files. \\n\\nTo draw attention to the issue, Harry set up a website where users can see the apps affected by the issue. Codeway’s apps are no longer listed there, as Harry removes entries once developers confirm they have fixed the problem. Codeway reportedly resolved the issue across all of its apps within hours of responsible disclosure.\\n\\n## How to stay safe\\n\\nBesides checking if any apps you use appear in Harry\u2019s Firehound registry, there are a few ways to better protect your privacy when using AI chatbots.\\n\\n * Use private chatbots that don\u2019t use your data to train the model.\\n * Don\u2019t rely on chatbots for important life decisions. They have no experience or empathy.\\n * Don\u2019t use your real identity when discussing sensitive subjects.\\n * Keep shared information impersonal. Don\u2019t use real names and don\u2019t upload personal documents.\\n * Don\u2019t share your conversations unless you absolutely have to. In some cases, it makes them searchable.\\n * If you\u2019re using an AI that is developed by a social media company (Meta AI, Llama, Grok, Bard, Gemini, and so on), make sure you’re not logged in to that social media platform. Your conversations could be linked to your social media account, which might contain a lot of personal information.\\n\\n\\n\\nAlways remember that the developments in AI are going too fast for security and privacy to be baked into technology. And that even the best AIs still hallucinate.\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don ‘t just report on privacy\u2014we offer you the option to use it.**\\n\\nPrivacy risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep your online privacy yours by using Malwarebytes Privacy VPN.”,”published”:”2026-02-09T15:17:48″,”modified”:”2026-02-09T15:17:48″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”AI chat app leak exposes 300 million messages tied to 25 million users”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:BF6D37A5A6B934B2551F602BCD76D00D”,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/news\/2026\/02\/ai-chat-app-leak-exposes-300-million-messages-tied-to-25-million-users”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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