Adobe Acrobat Extension Flaw Lets Attackers Steal WhatsApp Chats From 329 Million Users

Cybersecuritynews •Guru Baran • July 22, 2026

A newly disclosed flaw in the Adobe Acrobat Chrome extension allowed attackers to silently harvest WhatsApp Web chats, contacts, and profile data from any user who simply visited a malicious webpage no clicks, downloads, or credential theft required. Security researchers at Guardio Labs uncovered the flaw, dubbed “HermeticReader,” and officially tracked as CVE-2026-48294 with a […]

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This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Adobe Acrobat Extension Vulnerability Enables WhatsApp Data Theft A critical vulnerability in the Adobe Acrobat Chrome extension, tracked as CVE-2026-48294 and named HermeticReader, allows attackers to access WhatsApp Web data without authentication. The flaw affects approximately 329 million users and requires only a single visit to a malicious webpage. Exploitation involves manipulating the extension's integration engine, Hermes, which can execute commands on WhatsApp Web through predictable Tab IDs. Guardio Labs discovered the vulnerability and demonstrated data theft by injecting forms into WhatsApp Web. Adobe has released a patch (version 26.5.2.3) to address the issue, and there are no indications of active exploitation. The vulnerability impacts all versions of the extension up to 26.5.2.2. 7 sources 71

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Adobe Acrobat Extension Flaw Lets Attackers Steal WhatsApp Chats From 329 Million Users

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