The Linux vulnerability called Dirty COW (CVE-2016-5195) was first disclosed to the public in 2016. The vulnerability was discovered in upstream Linux platforms such as Redhat, and Android, which kernel is based on Linux. It is categorized as a serious privilege escalation flaw that allows an attacker to gain root access on the targeted system. Dirty COW attacks on Android has been silent since its discovery, perhaps because it took attackers some time to build a stable exploit for major devices. Almost a year later, Trend Micro researchers captured samples of ZNIU (detected as AndroidOS_ZNIU)—the first malware family to exploit the vulnerability on the Android platform.
Read More
