Remember the major privacy flaw that hit Windows 11’s Snipping Tool and Windows 10’s Snip and Sketch Tool? As earlier reported, the privacy flaw allowed attackers to retrieve sensitive information cropped out of screenshots.
Up until now, the workaround to this was to use another image editor or ensure that you save the image you’re editing using the affected tools under a different file name. Though towards the end of last week, Microsoft released a new update for the Snipping Tool for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel to resolve the issue.
And now, the company has released new updates for both tools to patch the privacy security flaw. Bumping the Snipping Tool to version 11.2302.20.0, and the Snip & Sketch tool to 11.2302.20.0. Both updates are available and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft states that the severity of this privacy flaw is low since it requires uncommon user interaction as well as several factors that are way beyond the attacker’s reach. The company highlights these factors as listed below:
- The user must take a screenshot, saved it to a file, modify the file (for example, crop it), and then save the modified file to the same location.
- The user must open an image in Snipping Tool, modify the file (for example, crop it), and then save the modified file to the same location.
