Mobiles News 900 Million Android Devices Affected by Critical 'QuadRooter' Vulnerability

HIGHLIGHTS

·         f exploited QuadRooter flaw gives attackers complete control of devices

·                    QuadRooter flaw found in software drivers that ship with Qualcomm SoCs     

          Qualcomm claims that patches were released for the flaw

A new Android flaw has been reported by security researchers that is claimed to affect roughly 900 million Android devices. Check Point mobile research team first reported the issue and claims that it affects all devices using Qualcomm chipsets.

Dubbed 'QuadRooter', it is said to be a set of four vulnerabilities affecting Android devices built on Qualcomm chipsets. The research team explains that if any one of the four vulnerabilities is exploited, an attacker can trigger privilege escalations for the purpose of gaining root access to a device. The team also claimed that the QuadRooter vulnerabilities are present in software drivers that ship with Qualcomm SoCs. "Any Android device built using these chipsets is at risk," notes Check Point.

Qualcomm informed ZDNet that patches for the issue were released to "customers, partners, and the open source community between April and the end of July."

One of the biggest concerns with the QuadRooter vulnerability is that the buggy software is pre-installed on devices at the point of manufacture, and can only be fixed via security patch released by the carrier or distributor. "Distributors and carriers issuing patches can only do so after receiving fixed driver packs from Qualcomm," adds Check Point in a blog post.

ADVERTISEMENT

"An attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities using a malicious app. Such an app would require no special permissions to take advantage of these vulnerabilities, alleviating any suspicion users may have when installing," explains Check Point mobile research team.

Some of the popular devices said to be affected by the new QuadRooter flaw include BlackBerry Priv, Google Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, HTC 10, LG G5, Moto X, OnePlus 3, and Samsung Galaxy S7 among others. The team also claimed that secure phones - Blackphone 1 and Blackphone 2 - are also likely to be affected by this vulnerability. Adam 

                                                                                                                      news from gadgets 360