A security researcher recently revealed critical vulnerabilities in Google's People API that could potentially expose YouTube channel email addresses, despite the company's assurances of privacy. The discovery was made by Brutecat, who determined that the process of blocking users on YouTube affects their Gaia ID. This led to an exploit found in the web version of Pixel Recorder, where sharing a recording allowed the retrieval of email addresses. After reporting the flaws leading to a significant bug bounty from Google, the vulnerabilities were subsequently addressed by the company.
Brutecat discovered that two vulnerabilities could expose YouTube channel email addresses, contradicting Google's privacy promises, highlighting serious flaws in the People API.
Blocking a YouTube user relies on their Gaia ID, which can be manipulated to discover email addresses, exposing vulnerabilities in Google's supposed privacy measures.
The methodology involved leveraging the Pixel Recorder app's connectivity to Gaia IDs, bypassing notifications by using an exceptionally long filename, successfully revealing sensitive user information.
After reporting the vulnerability, Google initially valued it at $3,133 but later recognized its potential exploitation risk, increasing the bounty to $10,633 following further assessment.
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