If you often use the windows snipping tools to take screenshots and sharing them online, you may be at risk of revealing sensitive information that you thought you had deleted. As reported by some security researchers, the Snipping tools built into Windows 11 have a vulnerability which allows anyone with access to the image file to recover the cropped parts of the screenshot.
Windows screenshot cropping vulnerability
This means if you have made one screenshot of a document or a private conversation, by cropping only the relevant part before saving it and sending it to someone, the recipient may be able to see all the original content of the screenshot with a little bit of hacking. This could put your privacy and security at risk.
The vulnerability occurs only by following these steps:
- Take a screenshot with the Capture tool in Windows 11.
- Press the Save icon to save the image file to your computer.
- Crop the screenshot with the same tool and save it in the same file (this is the default).
In this way, the original image data noare not deleted from the file, just hidden. An attacker could use specialized software to modify the file and view the cropped parts.
According to reports from the security experts consulted by The Verge, which reports the news, it seems that the problem also concerns the Windows 10 Crop feature, but not the original snipping tool.
Only last week we also reported the Pixel screenshot problem, who had had a similar vulnerability. Giving rise to the suspicion that there are several cropping tools that do not sufficiently protect the privacy of users.
Microsoft reports that it is aware of the problem and that you have taken precautions to handle the matter e protect users.