Open Subtitles 2021 Data Breach
Platform · Subtitle distribution and sharing · Content repository platform · Global
OpenSubtitles Subtitle Community Breach (2021): 6.8 Million User Accounts Including Passwords Exposed via Ransom Demand
Online subtitle database and community.
Confirmed · ObscureIQ Intelligence
Breach Risk Index i
17/100
Lower riskHigher risk
Lower: limited current risk based on data value and recency.
Data Sensitivity i
StandardExposed data is largely lower-sensitivity. Standard identity-protection precautions are advised.
6.8MRecords
2021Year
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
In August 2021, OpenSubtitles suffered a data breach affecting 6,783,158 users. The attacker cracked a low-security SuperAdmin password, reached an unsecured script, and used SQL injection to extract the database. Exposed data included email addresses, usernames, IP addresses, geolocation, and passwords stored as unsalted MD5 hashes. A ransom was paid but the data leaked anyway.
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…
6.8M records analyzed
About Open Subtitles
OpenSubtitles is a large community-run repository of movie and TV subtitles in many languages, widely used by media players and enthusiasts.
Why They Hold Your Data
Subtitle-sharing platforms collect user accounts, emails, upload history, content preferences, IP-related records, and community participation tied to media access and content distribution.
Recent Developments
The site operator stated a ransom was paid to keep the breach quiet and have the data deleted, but the dataset surfaced publicly regardless.
Data Points Exposed
5 verified field types
Email Address
Geographic location
IP Address
Password High
Username
Breach Impact
Unsalted MD5 hashes are readily cracked, exposing reused credentials to stuffing attacks, while IP and geolocation data supports profiling and targeted phishing.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
• Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms | • Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses | • Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
Principal Risk Advisory
What this means for a principal
A consumer-service breach: contact and account data supports phishing, account takeover and profile enrichment. 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.
- 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: cross-reference the exposed identifiers against broker-available data to size and prioritize the principal's wider footprint.
- ThreatWatch tuned to this incident's identifiers and misuse pattern (impersonation and targeting patterns, not generic credential monitoring).
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