{"id":2825,"date":"2013-07-06T12:30:42","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T16:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=2825"},"modified":"2013-07-06T12:30:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T16:30:42","slug":"android-flaw-leaves-99-of-devices-open-to-attacks-details-to-be-revealed-at-blackhat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/07\/06\/android-flaw-leaves-99-of-devices-open-to-attacks-details-to-be-revealed-at-blackhat\/","title":{"rendered":"Android flaw leaves 99% of devices open to attacks, details to be revealed at BlackHat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/53133-android-flaw-leaves-99-of-devices-open-to-attacks-details-to-be-revealed-at-blackhat.html\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2013-07-04_12-43-40.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mobile security company Bluebox claims to have discovered a flaw in Android that could leave any device released in the last four years vulnerable to attacks. The method demonstrated allowed modifying an app\u2019s code without affecting its cryptographic signature, inserting malicious code completely unnoticed, leading to anything from data theft to creating botnets. The implications are huge, the researchers say.<br \/>\nAlthough specifics were left under wraps, the core issue involves discrepancies in how Android applications are verified and installed. As Bluebox explains, all Android apps contain cryptographic signatures to verify their authenticity. But through the use of some sort of \u201cmaster key\u201d, malicious coders are able trick Android into believing an app is unchanged even if its APK code has been modified.<br \/>\nThe vulnerability has reportedly been around since the release of Android 1.6 in 2009 and Google was notified about it in February. But due to the way Android updates work, it\u2019s up to manufacturers to produce and release firmware updates for their specific hardware, and so far only the Galaxy S 4 has been patched.<br \/>\nAs proof of the vulnerability\u2019s existence, Bluebox CTO Jeff Forristal accompanied his blog post with a screenshot from an HTC device that had system-level software information modified to display \u201cBluebox\u201d in the Baseband Version string (a value normally controlled &amp; configured by the system firmware).<br \/>\nTechnical details and related tools will be released at his BlackHat USA 2013 talk by the end of the month.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s worth noting that for all the doom and gloom that Bluebox is spelling &#8212; it appears to be a serious issue after all &#8212; falling prey to hackers would require you to download an actual app that has been modified with malicious code. In other words, it requires user action, and most likely downloading from a non-official source.<br \/>\nvia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/53133-android-flaw-leaves-99-of-devices-open-to-attacks-details-to-be-revealed-at-blackhat.html\" target=\"_blank\">Android flaw leaves 99% of devices open to attacks, details to be revealed at BlackHat &#8211; TechSpot<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mobile security company Bluebox claims to have discovered a flaw in Android that could leave any device released in the [&hellip;]<\/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":[3,7,9,10],"tags":[65,133,455,655],"class_list":["post-2825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-security","category-software","category-technology","tag-android","tag-blackhat","tag-hacking","tag-malware"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-Jz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9804,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2024\/11\/08\/maximum-iceland-scenario-data-caps-3rd-party-android-stores-nuclear-amazon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2825,"position":0},"title":"Maximum Iceland Scenario &#8211; 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