In addition, apps like Hangouts have an auto-retrieve feature. When the file is downloaded, the hacker remotely executes malicious code on your Android device that can result in the compromise of your private information or loss of data.Īnd because users get a preview of any message received over the air on all the newest versions of Android OS, this means that the attached malicious file is downloaded automatically. They then send you an MMS with an infected MP4 file. With this method, the adversary requires your phone number. Using multimedia messages (MMS) to exploit This new method also guides white hat hackers, black hat hackers, and even government spying organizations in developing the StageFright exploit for themselves.ģ. Using the details sent by the exploit to the hacker's server, the hacker is able to control the victim's smartphone. The attacker's server then transmits a custom-generated video file to the victim's device, exploiting the StageFright vulnerability to reveal more details about the internal state of the device. Once a visitor opens the page from his/her Android device, the malicious multimedia file is downloaded, resetting the internal state of the device. The adversary embeds the infected MP4 file into an HTML web page and publishes the web page on the Internet. Researchers demonstrate Simple Media Player playing a malformed MP4 file. The PID of the media server changes, causing it to crash and restart. If an adversary wants to attack a large number of Android phones with this message, he/she should first gather a large number of phone numbers and then spend money on sending out text messages to potential victims.Īlternatively, the hacker can embed the exploit in an Android app and play the infected MP4 file to trigger the StageFright exploit. In the original hacking method (discussed later), the hacker had to know the user's mobile number to trigger StageFright via MMS. Here are the three most popular StageFright hacking techniques. Researchers, therefore, analyzed the deepest corners of this code and discovered several remote code execution vulnerabilities attackers can exploit with various hacking techniques, including methods that don't even require the user's mobile number. This itself can result in memory corruption. The StageFright component is embedded in native code (i.e., C++) instead of memory-safe languages such as Java because media processing is time sensitive. StageFright's popularity made it the first mobile-only threat featured on WatchGuard Threat Lab's top-ten list of hacking attacks detected by IPS in 2017. And while it's most effective on Android devices running stock firmware like Nexus 5, it's known to function on the customized Android variants running on phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 and HTC One. It seems laborious, but it works within a matter of seconds: a typical StageFright attack breaks into a device within 20 seconds. For this reason, the attack could take place without users even finding out. Several text messaging applications - including Google Hangouts - automatically process videos so the infected video is ready for users to watch as soon as they open the message. StageFright can use videos sent through MMS as a source of attack via the libStageFright mechanism, which assists Android in processing video files.
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