A bug in the latest Samsung Messages update is causing some devices to send out photos without their owner's knowledge. While some users have reported that the affected photos are the ones that they have sent before; others are saying their entire galleries have been distributed.

The fact that you can't see it in your sent messages either, makes it so much worse. "S9s have been sporadically sending the entire contents of one's gallery to a contact via SMS, and it doesn't show up on your side,” explains one user on Reddit. “Might be worth checking logs on your carrier's site, because it happened on my T-Mobile Note 8.”

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The Samsung Messages bug does not seem to be device-specific or network-specific. It is still unclear where this bug originated from or how it is actually functioning. 

Another user replied, “Oddly enough, my wife's phone did that last night, and mine did it the night before. I think it has something to do with the Samsung SMS app being updated from the Galaxy Store. When her phone texted me her gallery, it didn't show up on her end — and vice versa.”

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While a lot of users have complained on Reddit, there is also a support page on T-Mobile's website. For now, only Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 8 users have been affected. The problem has surely been introduced with the latest Samsung Messages update, so if you haven't already installed it, it might be best to avoid it for now.

To temporarily make sure none of your data is slowing leaking out, navigate to Galaxy Apps > Settings > turn off auto updates followed by heading over to Settings > Apps> Samsung Messages > Permissions > Disable Storage. You can also turn off auto-updates if you go into the Settings menu within Galaxy Apps.

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Once you've revoked these permissions, you won't be able to attach and send photos via Messages yourself, but you'll be sure nothing is leaving your phone unnoticed. You could even try to use a different messaging app in the end if this issue isn't fixed quickly. 

Source: Reddit