LG/Netflix Rebate Site Exposes User Data With AT&T-Esque Hole [Updated]

from the self-hacking? dept

[Update: hole has been closed by ACB’s IT team]

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is so severely flawed that people are extremely hesitant to report security holes in websites, especially after witnessing what happened to Weev (Andrew Auernheimer), who went to jail for exposing a flaw in AT&T’s site that exposed user info when values in the URL were incremented.

The same goes here with this submission from an anonymous Techdirt reader who added this note, along with a link to a post in the Computer Security subreddit.

“I remember a person was recently arrested for finding this same flaw in a website and told (at&t/apple??) about it. He was arrested and jailed if I remember right. This is the type of chilling effects that come when people view techies as hackers and are arrested for pointing out flaws.

The flaw is in:

http://www.acbincentives.com/lgnetflix/claimdetails.asp?txtclaimnum=30345

By changing the number at the end you can harvest personal info.

I won’t report the flaw, I could go to jail.”

Is that overdramatic? Doubtful. People have reported security flaws to companies only to have these entities press charges, file lawsuits or otherwise tell them to shut up. Weev’s only out because the government’s case was brought in the wrong venue. The CFAA, which has been used to punish many helpful people, is still intact and as awful as ever.

As the (also anonymous) redditor points out, he or she has tried to contact the company but has found no avenue to address this security hole which exposes names, addresses and email addresses of customers sending in claims for a free year of Netflix streaming that came bundled with their purchase of an LG Smart TV. Incrementing the digits at the end of the URL brings up other claims, some with images of receipts attached. In addition, anyone can upload support documents to these claims.

Here’s a screenshot of the hole in question:

As the original poster points out, with a little coding, someone could put together a database of addresses that most likely house a brand new LG Smart TV. And this may not just be limited to LG. ACB Incentives is the company behind this promotion, and it handles the same sort of online rebate forms for a variety of companies. These rebate submission sites all branch off acbincentives.com, which could mean it’s just a matter of figuring out how each one handles submitted claims, URL-wise.

Now, I’ve contacted the company to let them know. Amanda Phelps at the Memphis branch says she’s bringing it to the attention of programming. I also let her know that it may affect other rebate pages but that I can’t confirm that. We’ll see how quickly this is closed*, but all in all, the people at ACB seemed to be concerned and helpful, rather than suspcious.

*Very quickly, it appears. See note at top of post.

But the underlying point remains. Many people who discover these flaws aren’t criminals and aren’t looking to expose the data of thousands of unsuspecting users. They’re simply concerned that this is happening and often incredulous that major companies would be this careless with customers’ data. That the kneejerk reaction has often been to shoot the messenger definitely gives those discovering these holes second thoughts as to reporting them, a hesitation that could allow someone with more nefarious aims to exploit the exposed data. The law needs to change, and so does the attitude that anyone discovering a flaw must be some sort of evil hacker — or that the entity must do whatever it takes, even if it means throwing the CFAA at someone, just to prevent a little embarrassment.

Filed Under: cfaa, cybersecurity, promotions, rebates, security, security hole, user data
Companies: acb incentives, lg