After joining a group chat, a user could edit specific message parameters using the WhatsApp web interface and a browser debugging tool. Then they could create an “unstoppable crash-loop for all group chat members” which could only be fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling the app. The exploit would prevent members from returning to the group and and also lose all history of the chat.

This follows another WhatsApp vulnerability discovered by Check Point last year. The FakesApp vulnerability, as it is known, allowed people to manipulate messages in group chats to make it appear as if other users had said things they had not. This worked by manipulating the parameters used by the WhatsApp web interface to fake the apparent sender of a message.

After finding the latest defect, Check Point disclosed the problem to WhatsApp in August as part of a bug bounty program. WhatsApp patched the issue in September with version 2.19.58, so take this as a reminder to keep your apps up to date.

While the feature isn’t available yet, the self-destructing messages could be useful for anyone sending sensitive info. Telegram launched with the ability to send disappearing messages, so in this case Facebook is playing catch-up.

WhatsApp has been ramping up its safety and privacy features. Encryption is now built in, and last year, WhatsApp extended the time users have to unsend a message to one hour, eight minutes and 16 seconds. That was an improvement over the seven minutes users had previously, but it fell short of the 48 hours that Telegram users have to delete their messages. Facebook gives users 10 minutes to unsend messages before they’re read.

There’s a good chance the disappearing message feature will change a bit before it’s publicly available to all WhatsApp users, and it’s hard to say when that will be. WhatsApp is also testing features to curb the spread of fake news. We’ll see if those changes are enough to get people to trust the messaging app, even with its ties to Facebook.

The company was oblique in explaining the decision. In a statement to CNET, Facebook said it wanted to ensure that group features let people “connect in fun and useful ways,” and that it was “always looking” for ways to improve community experiences.

It’s not clear just how Group Stories was before word of the shutdown. However, Facebook is closing it down roughly nine months after its debut — that suggests there weren’t many using it. That wouldn’t be completely surprising when Stories tend to be personal affairs, but it does give Groups one less option for expressing themselves.