Android’s regular security update for December 2017 included a fix for a serious vulnerability that could allow attackers to modify installed apps without affecting their signature. This would allow an attacker to gain access to the affected device (indirectly). First found by researchers in July, this vulnerability (designated as CVE-2017-13156, and also called the Janus vulnerability) affects versions of Android from 5.1.1 to 8.0; approximately 74% of all Android devices have these versions installed.
Read MoreVeo Zhang
Mobile Threats Analyst
October’s macOS security update contained a fix for a vulnerability that Trend Micro privately disclosed to Apple earlier this year. The vulnerability (designated as CVE-2017-13811), was in the fsck_msdos system tool. This tool checks for and fixes errors in devices formatted with the FAT filesystem, and is automatically invoked by macOS when a device using FAT (such as a USB disk or an SD card) is inserted.
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August’s Android Security Bulletin includes three file system vulnerabilities (CVE-2017-10663, CVE-2017-10662, and CVE-2017-0750 that were discovered by Trend Micro researchers. These vulnerabilities could cause memory corruption on the affected devices, leading to code execution in the kernel context. This would allow for more data to be accessed and controlled by the malware. A malicious app could be used to trigger this vulnerability, which occurs when a malicious disk using the F2FS (Flash-Friendly File System) is mounted. The disk can either be an actual physical device or a virtual file image.
Read MoreDirty COW (designated as CVE-2016-5195) is a Linux vulnerability that was first disclosed to the public in October 2016. It was a serious privilege escalation flaw that allowed an attacker to gain root access on the targeted system; other methods were needed to run any code on the targeted machine. We have found a new way to target Dirty COW that is different from existing attacks.
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We came across a family of mobile malware called Godless (detected as ANDROIDOS_GODLESS.HRX) that has a set of rooting exploits in its pockets. By having multiple exploits to use, Godless can target virtually any Android device running on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) or earlier. As of this writing, almost 90% of Android devices run on affected versions. Based on the data gathered from our Trend Micro Mobile App Reputation Service, malicious apps related to this threat can be found in prominent app stores, including Google Play, and has affected over 850,000 devices worldwide.
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