PSA: Update your Twitter app like right now

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Twitter just released an update to its Android app that you should probably go and update to ASAP. According to Twitter, the update has a fix for a vulnerability that could have led to a hacker seeing things they shouldn’t have.

Anyway, if you’re on the latest app version (from December 17), you don’t have to worry. If not, just make sure you update so you can go back to stuffing Yule Log into your face with impunity.

If you don’t have auto-updates on, go update your Twitter app asap

We recently fixed a vulnerability within our Android app. To keep your account safe, please update your app as soon as possible. The update is available here: https://t.co/ImcsssBt9b

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) December 20, 2019

Twitter has been clear that they haven’t found any evidence that anyone has actually used this vulnerability, and is taking the action of informing users out of an abundance of caution. Still, make sure you update as soon as you can, just in case. The bug wasn’t easy to trigger, so you’re probably safe. According to the company’s blog post:

Prior to the fix, through a complicated process involving the insertion of malicious code into restricted storage areas of the Twitter app, it may have been possible for a bad actor to access information (e.g., Direct Messages, protected Tweets, location information) from the app

It could have also let hackers see “nonpublic account information or control your account,” so it’s just as well that Twitter has already fixed the issue. If you’re still worried, change your password, and make sure you have two-factor authentication set up if you didn’t already.

Was your app already updated or did you need to push the latest one? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Twitter’s revamped iPad app is basically the web version
• Instagram now hides ‘like counts’ – this Chrome extension brings them back
• A group of trolls targeted Twitter users with epilepsy with a barrage of strobing images
• Facebook struggles to convince lawmakers why it constantly needs to track your location

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.