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[flagged] Oops HBO, using real user data in your software integration tests?
54 points by pardner on June 18, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 80 comments
Anyone else get the email today from HBOMax@mail.hbomax.com (mail headers match), with subject "Integration Test Email #1", and message "This template is used by integration tests only"

Oops.




This doesn't mean that real user data was taken from production planted into intergration tests. Quite plausibly, test code is mixed in with production code, and got somehow accidentally executed in production. Maybe someone opened a live REPL into some running service and stepped on some test function, and that function used its real production context to send an e-mail to a real user. Kind of thing.


Ah man, poor dev. Hope they keep their job. You could argue this was a net positive, letting the world know hbo go uses integration tests


There should be a database of oopsies where we can share our oopsies and upvote the most epic ones.

... already exhausted about thinking what can pass as an oopsie, what is the appropriate human suffering threshold we can laugh about and keep it light?

...y'all did this to me.


For realz… what’s up with this type of system sending messages to users who never shared the rx’ing address with HBO?


Seems like someone accidentally published their test code into production. My instinct also tells me that HBO is using Spring Boot and that a missing or misplaced annotation is also somehow involved in this accident.


YES, LMAO. Someone will not have a great Friday morning team meeting at HBO.


I wonder if we'll find out how many of their subscribers got em.

I got two. Was wondering first if it was suspicious or an oops.


Address not found Your message wasn't delivered to HBOMax@mail.hbomax.com because the domain mail.hbomax.com couldn't be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again.


Got one too. Not on my personal email, but on my work one (that has never been used for subscribing to HBO, unsurprisingly).

My work email address is in github and some other public email lists


How do they get the email address if a user never entered it into their system?? This is mind blowing


As I stated above, I have a unique email for direcTV (now closed). It is DirecTV that shared our email with HBO. Likely to market to us. I will disable that email as I no longer have DirecTV. The email they sent this to was only used for my DirecTV account and for nothing else. This is why I am confident that DirecTV (AT&T) shared this...


I don't have a direct TV account nor have I ever used any kind of a TV cable service. I also don't use AT&T so I'm not sure. Because I also got the email.


I have a unique email for direcTV (now closed). It is DirecTV that shared our email with HBO. Likely to market to us. I will disable that email as I no longer have DirecTV


Yes, I did. Also, I did not sign up for HBO MAX; but did subscribe to the old HBO once upon a time. So they are using user data from the past.


Message received. Definitely a mistake. Are they pulling data across apps? I’m a subscriber but why would @headcrumbs rx one? Unless he’s a previous customer


I got the email on 3 emails. I need to deactivate the one didn't even know I still had it on my phone until the email popped up.


I used a unique email for a now closed DirecTV account. This was sent to that email. It is DirecTV sharing our email with HBO


But I got it, and I’ve never had an HBO account or a DirecTV account.


Yep...what the heck. It got my main email for junk stuff and my personal/professional one I don't use publicly


So this is cause HBO messed up a test and somehow sent it to there ENTIRE EMAIL DATABASE??? Even email addresses associated with partners and closed accounts...The Direct TV association makes me think the Email went out to ANY AND ALL ATT media subscribers past and present instead of just testing the ability to send emails to account holders, someone messed up and seems to have sent real emails. This will be on the news...


Yep I got one too, hence why I'm here lol. I was wondering if they got their live code mixed up.


Yep, I even have a deactivated account too, and got the email for both active and inactive accounts!


Yup just got one and went straight to Google to find out wtf was going on. What does it mean?


it means a test that was supposed to check if hbo max's software can send emails correctly was run with their real email authentication somehow. I'm so curious how they managed to send it to so many people!


Ahh ok thanks


Someone on the testing team messed up.


Got one as well. Googled and this is the first post I saw. At least it isn't just me.

Crazy af though.


"Integration Test Email #1" - and this will be the last for this test suite


I don’t know why but I felt inclined to google what this email means.


I googled it, too. Lol. Hence why I’m here. Never had this happen before!


I got the Segregation Test 1968 version, is it an Android error?


I asked if they needed help testing their free year of HBO Max.


Yep, got it on 2 different emails — WTH?! What is going on?


Yes... I don't have hbo so why do they have my email?


Just got that too. That engineer is going to feel bad.


Yes. What the hell? I'd really like to know why.


I just got it. Wtf is it? Layman's terms plz


An integration test is a type of software test that makes sure different parts of a system work properly together.

So HBO has some integration tests that make sure their system can send email properly. The way it does this is by sending some test emails to a test email list.

Except somehow, someone made a mistake today and the test email got sent to the real email list of all the subscribers.


So my best explanation is I am a YouTube TV user and I saw that there giving a 5 day trial for HBO Max. I think the integration is between the two companies so we can test it out for free.

I think that email was them flipping the switch and forgetting to remove the test email. This is my hypothesis as a seasoned Server Engineer.


What does it mean tho? An intern fuck-up?


You think they give production access like this to an intern?


I got three… to the same email address.


New westworld season would be my guess


finally


This kinda thing gets under my skin.


Got one too, do not have hbomax…


Do I have to worry about this?


Me, i dont know what it means


Eh, just a misfired email.


HBO UX needs some work.


AT&T strikes again


I just got it wtf does it mean? Layman's terms plz and should I be worried


Yep got one as well…


New westworld season


I just got one too


yeah, got it. flat out creepy. flipping HBO. smh


wow, this will go down as an all-time tech fail.


nah, people won't remember it in a year.


Yep. Got one too.


Just got it too.


Got one as well


Ditto McGritto


Yup, I got it


I got it too!


Got one, too


I did. Wtf?


Scared asf lol don't even use HBO.


Yeah weird


Ditto


Yup


What does it mean?


got 3 of them


Ditto Mcgritto


me too


i got it. I thought I won something.


+1


+1


Same here


Yes


Yes I did




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