Dubsmash 2018 Data Breach
Platform · Short-form video creation and sharing · Mobile social platform · Global
Dubsmash Video Messaging App Breach (2018): 161 Million User Records Including Passwords & Phone Numbers Exposed
Video messaging app.
Confirmed · ObscureIQ Intelligence
Breach Risk Index i
34/100
Lower riskHigher risk
Moderate: notable exposure with meaningful misuse potential.
Data Sensitivity i
StandardExposed data is largely lower-sensitivity. Standard identity-protection precautions are advised.
161.4MRecords
2018Year
The Breach Risk Index (BRI) is a proprietary 0–100 score rating how dangerous a breach is right now, based on how recently the data has been circulating on the dark web and how valuable it is to attackers.
Breach Summary
Dubsmash, a video messaging and lip-sync app, suffered a data breach in December 2018 that exposed approximately 161 million user records. The breach stemmed from a misconfiguration, allowing direct access to user data. The stolen data was later listed for sale on a dark web marketplace in 2019, bundled alongside databases from several other breached platforms, before circulating more broadly online. The exposed information included email addresses, full names, usernames, phone numbers, geographic locations, spoken languages, and hashed passwords. The passwords were protected using PBKDF2 hashing, which offers some resistance to cracking, but is not unbreakable. The combination of profile details and login credentials creates real risk for affected users, including account takeover, impersonation, and targeted social engineering attacks. Because Dubsmash was a media-linked platform where users built public personas, exposed identities carry additional reputational and targeting risk. Dubsmash notified affected users and required password resets following the breach. No regulatory action or legal settlement specific to this incident has been publicly documented. Reddit acquired Dubsmash in 2020 and shut the platform down in 2022, meaning affected users no longer have an active account to secure. However, anyone who reused their Dubsmash password on other services remains at risk and should change those passwords immediately.
Full threat analysis, exploitation vectors, and principal guidance below.
10 additional sections · verified field analysis · defensive doctrine
Querying breach corpus…
Cross-referencing exposed field types…
Resolving threat-actor attribution…
Compiling principal risk advisory…
161.4M records analyzed
About Dubsmash
Dubsmash was a video messaging and lip-sync app launched in 2014 that allowed users to record short videos of themselves miming to audio clips. The platform was popular in its early years as a precursor to TikTok-style short video content. Dubsmash was acquired by Reddit in 2020 following the breach, and Reddit subsequently shut down the standalone Dubsmash platform in 2022, integrating some of its video technology into Reddit's own features.
Why They Hold Your Data
Social video platforms collect user accounts, emails, behavioral data, and user-generated media content.
Recent Developments
Dubsmash no longer operates as a standalone platform. Reddit shut it down in February 2022, redirecting users to Reddit's native video features. The breach predates the acquisition and the shutdown.
Data Points Exposed
7 verified field types
Email Address
Full Name
Geographic location
Password High
Phone Number
Spoken Language
Username
Breach Impact
In December 2018 Dubsmash suffered a breach exposing approximately 161 million records — one of the larger social platform breach datasets of that era — including email addresses, full names, usernames, phone numbers, geographic locations, spoken languages, and hashed passwords. The data was offered for sale on dark web markets in 2019 as part of a large multi-platform bundle alongside other breached platform databases. Dubsmash notified affected users and prompted password resets. No settlement or regulatory action specific to this breach has been prominently documented. Reddit, which acquired Dubsmash in December 2020, subsequently shut the platform down in 2022.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
• Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms | • SIM swap attacks where phone numbers are present | • Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses | • Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
Principal Risk Advisory
What this means for a principal
A social-platform breach: profile and contact-graph data supports impersonation, enrichment and social engineering. For a high-profile principal the main risk is credible impersonation and enrichment of existing exposure.
What You Should Do
- Reset any reused passwords and enable MFA on email first, then financial accounts.
- Guard against SIM-swap and vishing: add a carrier port-out PIN and verify any 'support' calls independently.
- Do not use unofficial 'am I affected' lookups; several are themselves harvesting operations.
How ObscureIQ Can Help
- Corpus confirmation: determine whether and where the principal (plus household and staff) appear in this dataset and which specific fields are exposed for them.
- Exposure mapping and footprint neutralization: cross-reference against broker-available data and suppress still-removable elements, prioritizing address and phone, since this record re-seeds broker networks.
- ThreatWatch tuned to this incident's identifiers and misuse pattern (impersonation and targeting patterns, not generic credential monitoring).
Protect Yourself
Check If You're Affected
Enter your email to check whether your data appears in this breach. We’ll send a 6-digit code to confirm it’s your address.
Get Free Breach Alerts
Be the first to know when new breaches are disclosed. Free forever — confirm your email with a 6-digit code.
High-Risk? Get an Exposure Audit
Executives, public figures, and high-visibility operators can receive tailored exposure intelligence and hardening guidance.
Request Consultation