The (Not So Great) “Hack” of iFunny – March 13, 2025

iFunny uses an S3-compatible system to store images and media. when you upload a meme, this is sent to a “bucket” where everyone can then see the image. in a not-so-technical-sense, it helps to scale the software without duplicating the image everywhere.

from what the images show and some other folks adding to it: ifunny allowed the bucket of media of everyones memes (chats included, hope you arent sending cock pics) to be written, deleted, and read, no matter who you are. this allowed these so called hackers to overwrite and replace your memes at will (possibly bypassing automod?)

the list of items affected appear to be the following:
-posted memes
-account photos
-account banners
-chat images

but do not include:
-actual chat text content
-account details (i.e. email and password)
-the plans for jeets to take over the world
-billing information

additionally, rumors are circulating that the subreddit r/trans had exploited the open bucket as some sort of revenge, but this is suspected not to be true as there’s no information to back this up, plus ifunny is so small these days.

What is S3?

Imagine you have a toy box where you keep all your favorite toys—like your action figures, dolls, or blocks. Now, imagine if that toy box was magical and could grow bigger whenever you needed more space, and you could access it from anywhere (like your house, grandma’s, or even school). That’s kind of what Amazon S3 is! It’s a super-special storage place on the internet (called the “cloud”) where people and companies can store all kinds of stuff—like pictures, videos, files, or even backups of their computer things. S3 stands for Simple Storage Service, and it’s made by Amazon.

How Does S3 Work?

Think of S3 like a giant library with tons of lockers. Each locker (called a “bucket” in S3) has a name, like “My-Toys” or “Family-Pics.” You can put anything in your bucket—photos, videos, or even secret treasure maps! You don’t have to worry about running out of space because the locker magically grows as you add more stuff. Plus, you can lock your bucket with a key (password) so only you or your friends can open it.

You talk to S3 using a special app or program on your computer (or even a phone). You tell it, “Hey, store this picture for me!” or “Give me back my video!” and S3 listens. It’s super fast and keeps your stuff safe.

What’s “Compatible S3 Software”?

Okay, so Amazon made S3, but they also told everyone, “Here’s how to build stuff that works with our magic toy box!” That’s called the S3 API (a set of rules for talking to S3). Now, other companies said, “Cool, we’ll make our own toy boxes that work the same way!” These are called S3-compatible systems.

For example:

• MinIO: A toy box you can keep at home or in your own clubhouse, but it still works like S3.
• Wasabi: Another magic toy box in the cloud, cheaper and faster for some people.
• DigitalOcean Spaces: A different company’s version of the same idea.

The cool part? If you have a program that knows how to talk to S3 (like a toy-grabbing robot), it can also talk to these other S3-compatible toy boxes without learning new tricks!

How Does It All Fit Together?

Imagine you’re playing a game where you save your drawings. You use a little app to send your drawing to S3 (the Amazon toy box). Later, you can grab it back from anywhere—like showing it to your friend on their tablet. If your app knows the S3 language, it can also save your drawing to MinIO or Wasabi instead, and it works the same way. You don’t have to change anything big—it’s like all the toy boxes speak the same language!

Why Do People Like It?

• Easy: You don’t need to build your own toy box—it’s ready to use.
• Big: It grows as much as you need.
• Safe: Your stuff won’t get lost or stolen.
• Anywhere: You can get your toys from any place with internet.

So, S3 and its compatible friends are like magical, never-ending toy boxes that keep your stuff safe and let you share it easily. Pretty neat, right?