Google Accounts Security Vulnerability

["Michael J. Gray" <mgray () emitcode com>]

Effective since May 1, 2012.

Products Affected: All Google account based services

 

Upon attempting to log-in to my Google account while away from home, I was
presented with a message that required me to confirm various details about
my account in order to ensure I was a legitimate user and not just someone
who came across my username and password. Unable to remember what my phone
number from 2004 was, I looked for a way around it.

The questions presented to me were:

    Complete the email address: a******g () gmail com

    Complete the phone number: (425) 4**-***7

 

Since this was presented to me, I was certain I had my username and password
correct.

> From there, I simply went to check my email via IMAP at the new location.

I was immediately granted access to my email inboxes with no trouble.

 

> From there, I attempted to log-in to my Google account with the same
username and password.

To my surprise, I was not presented with any questions to confirm my
identity.

This completes the steps required to bypass this account hijacking
counter-measure.

 

This just goes to show that even the largest corporations that employ teams
of security experts, can also overlook very simple issues.

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