Researchers used AI to build a WeChat worm that spreads through phone calls

Researchers at the University of California created WeWorm, a worm that exploits a memory-corruption bug in WeChat’s internet-calling stack to hijack an account as soon as a call is placed, then uses that account to call the victim’s contacts and propagate on iOS and Android. Tencent confirmed the vulnerability, patched it in Android 8.0.77 and iOS 8.0.76, and reported no known affected users. The exploit was built in roughly two weeks using open-source tools and leading U.S. AI models.