Stagefright | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Own an Android smartphone? Beware, as just an innocuous-looking image on social media or messaging app could compromise your smartphone. Along with the dangerous Quadrooter vulnerabilities that affected 900 Million devices and other previously disclosed issues, Google has patched a previously-unknown critical bug that could let attackers deliver their hack hidden inside an innocent looking image via social media or chat apps. In fact, there is no need for a victim to click on the malicious photo because as soon as the image's data was parsed by the phone, it would quietly allow a remote attacker to take control over the device or simply crash it. The vulnerability is similar to last year's Stagefright bug ( exploit code ) that allowed hackers to hijack Android devices with just a simple text message without the owners being aware of it. The Stagefright flaw affected more than 950 Million Android devices and resided in the core Android component Stagefright — a multim...

Attention Android users! Millions of Android devices are vulnerable to hackers and intelligence agencies once again – Thanks to a newly disclosed Android Stagefright Exploit . Yes, Android Stagefright vulnerability is Back… …and this time, the Stagefright exploit allows an attacker to hack Android smartphones in 10 seconds just by tricking users into visiting a hacker's web page that contains a malicious multimedia file. A group of security researchers from Israel-based research firm NorthBit claimed it had successfully exploited the Stagefright bug that was emerged in Android last year and described as the "worst ever discovered" . The new Stagefright exploit, dubbed Metaphor , is detailed in a research paper [ PDF ] that guides bad guy, good guy as well as government spying agencies to build the Stagefright exploit for themselves. Just yesterday, we reported about critical vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that could be exploited ...

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

Google Android has been a primary concern of the attackers. Counting from a simple text message that could hack an Android phone remotely to the Stagefright bug making Billion users vulnerable. Now, the latest is the ' Kemoge Malware ' that has made its debut as an Adware on the Android mobile phones, allowing third-party app stores to fetch your device's information and take full control of it. Security researchers from FireEye Labs have discovered that Kemoge malicious adware family is spreading in 20 countries around the globe. Also, the origin of the Adware's attack is suspected from China. What is Kemoge? The name given to the malicious Adware family is because of its command and control (C2) domain: aps.kemoge.net. Kemoge is an Adware in the disguise of popular Apps; it has circulated in such numbers because it takes the name of popular apps and repackages them with the malicious code and make them available to the user. They even use...

Google reportedly fixed the latest round of Stagefright vulnerabilities in Android, pushing its latest over-the-air (OTA) update to Nexus devices. Last week, researchers warned of Stagefright 2.0 vulnerability that affected more than one Billion Android devices dating back to the latest versions of the Android operating system. The Stagefright bugs allowed hackers to take control of affected Android devices by sending a malicious audio or video file. In April, Zimperium researchers disclosed the first Stagefright vulnerability that allowed hackers to hijack any Android smartphones with just a simple text message ( exploit code ). As promised, Google on Monday pushed a patch that fixes the holes in Stagefright media playback engine used by Android to process, record and play multimedia files such as PDFs. The patch fixes 30 vulnerabilities in total, which includes: 14 critical vulnerabilities in Stagefright library 5 Remote Code Execution bugs 8 Eleva...

We are back with our last week's top cyber security threats and challenges, just in case you missed any of them ( ICYMI ). THN Weekly Round Up is The Hacker News efforts to help you provide all important stories of last week in one shot. We recommend you read the full story ( just click 'Read More' because there's some valuable advice in there as well ). Here's the list: 1. Quantum Teleportation — Scientists Teleported Quantum Data over 60 Miles While the world is battling between Quantum computers and Encryption , the NIST Scientists have set a new record in the field of " Quantum Teleportation "... …by successfully Teleporting a small amount of data (qubit) inside light particles over a distance of 60 Miles (100 km) through a network of optical fiber – the record which is four times faster than previous one. To know how the Quantum Teleportation works and how the researchers able to reach this record, Read More … 2. Pirate Bay co-fo...

Attention Android users! More than 1 Billion Android devices are vulnerable to hackers once again – Thanks to newly disclosed two new Android Stagefright vulnerabilities . Yes, Android Stagefright bug is Back… …and this time, the flaw allows an attacker to hack Android smartphones just by tricking users into visiting a website that contains a malicious multimedia file, either MP3 or MP4. In July, Joshua Drake, a Security researcher at Zimperium revealed the first Stagefright bug that allowed hackers to hijack Android smartphones with just a simple text message ( exploit code ). How Stagefright Bug 2.0 Works Both newly discovered vulnerabilities ( CVE-2015-6602 and CVE-2015-3876 ) also reside in the Android Media Playback Engine called ' Stagefright ' and affects all Android OS version from 1 to latest release 5.1.1. Reportedly, merely previewing a maliciously crafted song or video file would execute the Stagefright Bug 2.0 exploit , allowing h...

We are once again here with our weekly round up based on last week's top cyber security threats and challenges. I recommend you to read the entire thing ( just click ' Read More ' because there's some valuable advice in there as well ). Here's the list: 1. Reminder! If You have not yet, Turn Off Windows 10 Keylogger Now Microsoft is very powerful in tracking every single word you type or say to its digital assistant Cortana using its newest Windows 10 operating system. The keylogger that Microsoft put in the  Technical Preview of Windows 10  last fall made its way to  Windows 10 Free  public release first rolled out back in July. Besides various  Windows 10 privacy issues , there is a software component that is a bit more complicated than you thought. It tracks your inputs using: Keyboard Voice Screen Mouse Stylus Information about your Calendar and Contacts If this keylogger, which is more than just a keylogger, makes yo...

Zimperium Mobile Security Labs (zLabs) have been working hard to make Android operating system more safe and secure to use. Zimperium team has publicly released the CVE-2015-1538 Stagefright Exploit , demonstrating the process of Remote Code Execution (RCE) by an attacker. The released exploit is a python code creating an MP4 exploiting the 'stsc' vulnerability dubbed Stagefright. The purpose behind the release is to put penetration testers and security researchers to test and check the vulnerability of the code and analyze the results. Considered as the most critical flaw among all the existing vulnerabilities; the Stagefright flaw is capable of revealing user's information remotely by injecting malicious code, even without any involvements of the user. Two months ago, Zimperium Labs uncovered multiple vulnerabilities in 'libstagefright,' a service attached with the software-based codecs natively in Android smartphones for media playback. The vulnera...

This time Everything is Affected! Yet another potentially dangerous vulnerability has reportedly been disclosed in the Google's mobile operating system platform – Android . Android has been hit by a number of security flaws this month, including:   Stagefright vulnerability that affects 950 Million Android devices worldwide A critical mediaserver vulnerability that threatened to crash more than 55 percent of Android devices Another critical flaw (CVE-2015-3842) discovered last week, affected almost all the versions of Android devices This time the issue resides in the multitasking capability of the Android phones, the ability to run more than one app at a time. The security flaw gives hacker ability to spy on Android smartphone owners, steal login credentials, install malware , and many more, according to the latest research conducted by the researchers at the Pennsylvania State University and FireEye . How the Attack Works? According to security...

Two weeks ago, we reported about a critical mediaserver vulnerability that threatened to crash more than 55 percent of Android devices, making them unresponsive and practically unusable to perform most essential tasks. Now, security researchers at Trend Micro have uncovered another flaw in the Android's mediaserver component that could be remotely exploited to install malware onto a target device by sending a specially crafted multimedia message. The vulnerability ( CVE-2015-3842 ) affects almost all the versions of Android devices from Android 2.3 Gingerbread to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, potentially putting hundreds of Millions of Android devices open to hackers. Since Google has patched this issue, but hopefully the patch issued by Google this time isn't incomplete like its patch for the Stagefright vulnerability that affects 950 Million Android devices worldwide. How the Vulnerability Works? The security flaw involves a mediaserver component called Aud...

Wanna hack someone's Android smartphone by sending just an MMS message? Yes, you can, because Google's patch for the Stagefright vulnerability in hundreds of Millions of Android devices is BUGGY. Last week, Google issued an official patch for Stagefright vulnerability that affects 95 percent of Android devices running version 2.2 to version 5.1 of the operating system, an estimated 950 Million Android devices in use worldwide. But, the patch is so flawed that hackers can still exploit the Stagefright vulnerability (CVE-2015-3824) anyways. "The [original] patch is four lines of code and was (presumably) reviewed by Google engineers prior to shipping," researchers at Exodus Intelligence wrote in a blog post published Thursday. "The public at large believes the current patch protects them when it, in fact, does not." Buggy Patch Issued by Google The patch doesn't fix the vulnerability, allowing booby-trapped MP4 videos that supplied...

Poor Android users are facing a terrible, horrible, and awful week. Few days ago, Trend Micro security researchers uncovered a Android crashing vulnerability in the widely used mobile operating system, impacting the majority of Android devices in use. The report follows another significant Stagefright vulnerability that was revealed by separate researchers, who warned that nearly 950 Million Android phones can be hijacked by sending a simple text message or via malicious Android app or specially crafted web pages. EXPLOIT TO TRAP ANDROID DEVICES IN ENDLESS REBOOTS Now, the security researchers have discovered a dangerous security bug in the Android operating system that they claim can "brick" your phone, making it unresponsive and completely useless. The new vulnerability, CVE-2015-3823 , can be exploited by potential hackers to cause your Android device to endless Reboot, and is similar to the Stagefright bug in that the flaw exists in the 'media...

Earlier this week, security researchers at Zimperium revealed a high-severity vulnerability in Android platforms that allowed a single multimedia text message to hack 950 Million Android smartphones and tablets. As explained in our previous article, the critical flaw resides in a core Android component called " Stagefright ," a native Android media playback library used by Android to process, record and play multimedia files. To Exploit Stagefright vulnerability, which is actively being exploited in the wild, all an attacker needed is your phone number to send a malicious MMS message and compromise your Android device with no action, no indication required from your side. Hacking Without Knowing Phone Number But, Now you Don't even require the mobile numbers of your victims to infect their devices, a recent research claimed. In the previously known attack scenario, an attacker can exploit Stagefright vulnerability only against his/her known contact n...