{"id":2509,"date":"2013-06-07T14:12:21","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T18:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=2509"},"modified":"2013-06-07T14:12:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T18:12:21","slug":"new-android-trojan-app-exploits-previously-unknown-flaws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/06\/07\/new-android-trojan-app-exploits-previously-unknown-flaws\/","title":{"rendered":"New Android Trojan app exploits previously unknown flaws"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A newly discovered Trojan program exploits previously unknown flaws in Android and borrows techniques from Windows malware in order to evade detection and achieve persistence on infected devices.
\nSecurity researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab named the new malicious application Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a and labeled it the most sophisticated Android Trojan program to date.
\nThe malware is designed to send SMS messages to premium-rate numbers and allows attackers to execute rogue commands on infected devices by opening a remote shell. Attackers can use the malware to steal any kind of data stored on compromised devices or to download additional malicious applications that can be installed locally or distributed to other devices over Bluetooth.
\nThe Obad.a Trojan program makes heavy use of encryption and code obfuscation in order to hinder analysis efforts, Kaspersky researcher Roman Unuchek said Thursday in a blog post.
\nAn intelligent bug
\n\u201cMalware writers typically try to make the codes in their creations as complicated as possible, to make life more difficult for anti-malware experts,\u201d the researcher said. \u201cHowever, it is rare to see concealment as advanced as Odad.a\u2019s in mobile malware.\u201d
\nIn addition to using encryption and code obfuscation techniques, the malware also exploits previously unknown bugs in Android and third-party software, Unuchek said.
\nFor example, the malicious application exploits an error in a piece of software called DEX2JAR that\u2019s used by malware analysts to convert Android application packages (APKs) into Java Archive (JAR) files.
\n\u201cThis vulnerability spotted by the cybercriminals disrupts the conversion of Dalvik bytecode into Java bytecode, which eventually complicates the statistical analysis of the Trojan,\u201d Unuchek said.
\nThe malware also abuses a bug in the way Android processes AndroidManifest.xml files. These files are found in every application and contain information about the application\u2019s structure and launch parameters.
\nThe Trojan program contains a specifically crafted AndroidManifest.xml that doesn\u2019t conform to Google\u2019s specification, but is still processed correctly by the Android OS, Unuchek said. This makes dynamic analysis of the malware extremely difficult, he said.
\nWhen first executed, Obad.a prompts users for device administrator privilege. Applications that gain this privilege can no longer be uninstalled through the regular apps menu until they are removed from the administrators list in the security settings menu.
\n“The new Trojan program is distributed through SMS spam, but is not very widespread at the moment.”
\nThe Obad.a malware exploits a previously unknown flaw in the Android OS in order to hide itself from the administrators list, leaving users unable to revoke the privilege and uninstall the app. \u201cWe have already informed Google about the Device Administrator vulnerability in Android,\u201d Unuchek said.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n 
\nIn addition, on rooted devices, the malware tries to gain root privileges by executing the \u201csu id\u201d command, said Denis Maslennikov, a senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab, Friday via email. Like gaining administrative privileges, gaining root access requires user permission, he said.
\n\u201cBackdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a looks closer to Windows malware than to other Android Trojans, in terms of its complexity and the number of unpublished vulnerabilities it exploits,\u201d Unuchek said.
\nThe new Trojan program is distributed through SMS spam, but is not very widespread at the moment. According to detection statistics from Kaspersky Lab, installation attempts for Obad.a amounted to only 0.15 percent of the total number of malware infection attempts on mobile devices over a three-day period.
\nThat said, Maslennikov believes that other Android malware threats will adopt advanced techniques like the ones used by this malware in the future. \u201cWe think that similar techniques are going to be more widespread very soon,\u201d he said.
\nvia New Android Trojan app exploits previously unknown flaws | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A newly discovered Trojan program exploits previously unknown flaws in Android and borrows techniques from Windows malware in order to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,7,10],"tags":[65,655],"class_list":["post-2509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-networking","category-security","category-technology","tag-android","tag-malware"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-Et","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9930,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2025\/05\/16\/fbi-says-toss-your-old-router\/","url_meta":{"origin":2509,"position":0},"title":"FBI Says Toss Your Old Router","author":"NCCT","date":"May 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/scR199zRjvA On Security Now, Steve talks about the FBI's suggestion that we should be tossing out our old routers.","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/scR199zRjvA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9655,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2021\/03\/09\/fuquay-varina-and-holly-springs-computer-repair\/","url_meta":{"origin":2509,"position":1},"title":"Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs Computer Repair","author":"NCCT","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our blog. 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