What went wrong with ChatGPT macOS app, and why you should update it now

OpenAI’s ChatGPT app on the macOS was found to be storing chats on the system in plain readable text making it easy for threat actors to access it.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT macOS app was found to be storing user chats on the system in plain text until Friday, per a report by The Verge. The AI firm said they were aware of the issue and that they have shipped a new version of the app which will encrypt conversations with the ChatGPT app on macOS from now on. 

Users of ChatGPT app for Mac computers are advised to download the latest update or reinstall the app again. 

Software developer Pedro Vieito found that OpenAI was offering the ChatGPT macOS app only through their own website and that they had opted out of Apple’s sandbox protections. Sandboxing is a security system that runs an app and its data in an isolated environment so that it can’t access other parts of the system without permission.

ChatGPT not following Apple’s sandboxing requirement meant that any threat actors able to access your system could obtain user details stored in the chats, or another app could access these files without the user ever knowing. 

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Vieito pointed out the security flaw in a post on social media platform Threads, demonstrating how easy it would be for another app to read user chats. 

Sandboxing an app on the macOS is still optional. Usually, most chat applications are sandboxed given they handle sensitive data.