NITDA Warns Zoom Users Over Vulnerability that could allow attackers take over accounts – Innovation Village

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through its Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (NITDA-CIRT), has issued an urgent security advisory warning individual users, corporate organizations, and public sector institutions across Nigeria about a critical vulnerability in the Zoom Video Communications application.

The security flaw, tracked globally under Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures as CVE-2026-53412, carries a near-maximum Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) severity score of 9.8 out of 10. Cybersecurity experts and NITDA officials warn that successful exploitation of this flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute account takeovers via network access, compromising sensitive enterprise meetings, personal video sessions, and user credentials without requiring victim interaction.

Understanding the Threat: How CVE-2026-53412 Works

The core of the vulnerability stems from an Improper Input Validation defect within the application’s underlying code.

When software fails to properly sanitize or validate incoming data packets sent over a network, malicious actors can structure specialized payloads that trick the software into granting elevated privileges or bypassing identity controls. According to security bulletins verified by Zoom’s Trust Center and global cybersecurity monitoring bodies, an attacker positioned anywhere on the network can leverage this flaw to hijack active user sessions. Once an account takeover occurs, threat actors gain unauthorized control over the Zoom account. This level of unauthorized access poses significant security risks, including:

Unauthorized Surveillance: Attackers can secretly monitor or join private virtual meetings, exposing sensitive corporate strategy, government briefings, and…