Silent, Easily Made Android Rootkit Released At DefCon

An anonymous reader writes with news that security experts from Spider Labs released a kernel level rootkit for Android devices at DefCon on Friday. "As a proof of concept, it is able to send an attacker a reverse TCP over 3G/WIFI shell upon receiving an incoming call from a 'trigger number.' This ultimately results in full root access on the Android device." The rootkit was developed over a period of two weeks, and has been handed out to DefCon attendees on DVD.

Comments

What it doesn't say

[TyFoN]

Do you have to have a rooted device already in order to install it or does it use an exploit to gain this? Will it show the usual warnings about permission requirements when installing?
If it does use an exploit, it would be interesting to use this for regular rooting of the devices.

Re:What it doesn't say

[camperslo]

Wouldn't it be trivial for a developer to add the code to an app store offering that seems to have some legitimate need for any permissions requested?

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it doesn't need to be rooted, it's a kernel exploit, so it will give you root. The problem is Android people not picking up the Linux kernel fix for this. I guess they're really busy seeing as it was fixed back in May 2009! Shame on them. It just goes to show that you can't trust any of them. You'd expect new Andy release would use a new kernel. I wonder what Froyo is using...

Re:What it doesn't say

[TyFoN]

Where in the article does it state this?
I can't find any info about it at least.
All the article claims is that it is a kernel module, and in that case this is really old news as we had a story about it some time ago.

Re:What it doesn't say

[alvinrod]

Based on a few other articles that I've read, the owner of the phone would need to install an app that contains this rootkit first. Either users would need to sideload the application or someone would need to sneak an app containing it into the Android Marketplace, which is possible considering that developers have snuck apps with hidden tethering functionalities into the iPhone's App Store in the past.

Assuming that the rootkit works without needing any suspicious permissions, you won't get any additional useful warnings. If it needs some special set of permissions, but is masquerading as a legitimate app that would need those permissions anyway you probably won't notice either. Most of the articles I've been able to find are a little sparse on details. The rootkit has only been tested on two HTC phones, but the creators claim it will work on all phones. The two phones it has been shown to work on both ship with 2.1, so this may have possibly been fixed in Froyo already.

This is a bit worse than the article from the other day about the Android app that was supposedly stealing a lot of data but mostly turned out to be sensationalist drivel; however, it's still not a drive-by attack, which is what people should really be worried about.

Re:What it doesn't say

[AnEducatedNegro]

Ok as an android developer, you can't break out of the VM. period. that's the whole point of it. this exploit they are talking about is a kernel driver which you would include in a custom rom that you download from, say, sdx-developers (shoutout!). Now once you have a kernel rootkit, well you know the hell that can cause. But let's face it folks, mobile computing is here to stay. This is no different than having a rootkit on your windows box and tethering it through your phone. All the phone company sees are packets. It's also time to realize that our phones are full fledged computers. You gotta protect them.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder what Froyo is using...

Cyanogen6 (based on Froyo) uses 2.6.34. But it's easy to build a custom kernel image that can be flashed on top of the existing system.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

So would an application like Lookout protect you?

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

Plenty of exploits have been developed that specifically targetted the VM to break through to the parent system. How do you guard against a vulnerability in the interpreter? It's difficult unless you restrict the privileges of the host process, which is self-defeating in that it limits the power of the VM and its own sub-programs.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

Based on a few other articles that I've read, the owner of the phone would need to install an app that contains this rootkit first. Either users would need to sideload the application or someone would need to sneak an app containing it into the Android Marketplace, which is possible considering that developers have snuck apps with hidden tethering functionalities into the iPhone's App Store in the past.

Wow. Your fandroid response is pretty funny. Instead of pointing out an example from the Android Marketplace, downloaded by millions, which does exactly what you are talking about, you choose to go after a harmless iPhone app.

How does that Android Kool Aid taste, anyhow?

Re:What it doesn't say

[Svartalf]

Really? Can't break out of the VM, period?

If the application uses this little toolchain to provide a native code .so, you're able to break right on out of the VM, possibly never to return. It's not very hard at all- and there's a host of possible exploits to apply once you're in that space, all depending on how locked down the user account actually is on your Android device.

Let's all face a real fact here. Security has little to do with technology in and of itself. There's an aspect of it within the design of something, but in the end it's people that provide security as well. You would fail at securing something outright- you lay entirely too much faith in things like a VM to protect your system design.

Re:What it doesn't say

[WrongSizeGlass]

It's also time to realize that our phones are full fledged computers. You gotta protect them.

I completely agree. I keep my iPhone in a condom at all times. I get some funny looks when I'm holding it, especially when I'm not using my bluetooth, but it's worth it to be safe.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

This is no different than having a rootkit on your windows box and tethering it through your phone. All the phone company sees are packets. It's also time to realize that our phones are full fledged computers. You gotta protect them.

Eh, oops... You just lost 99% of the general audience.

The phone that will win the market is the phone made where the hardware/software/service providers are willing to guarantee to you to make consistent and continued effort to protect our phone from malware and problems, versus just declare it a "computer" and let YOU do it.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

Helps with reception too.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Sir_Lewk]

The purpose of rootkits is to allow you to keep root access after you've gotten it, not to give it to you in the first place. Getting it in the first place is outside the scope of this software.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

No, this is a kernel module not an application. Kernel modules cannot be installed from the application store.

Re:What it doesn't say

[AnEducatedNegro]

uh the rootkit also enables you to break out of the vm. but the problem here is the application inside the vm didn't break out. it has no way of interfacing with the system until the vm creates an interface. so again, you cannot break out of the vm as a developer. there are no magic holes in davlikvm. if you re-read the thread it all started with people saying "omg can we just click and exploit?!" and the answer is no you cannot. you may be able to attack specific devices (again, see sdx-developers).

i do want to thank you for reaffirming my statement. we need to provide the security ourselves and protect our phones.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

uh the rootkit also enables you to break out of the vm. but the problem here is the application inside the vm didn't break ou

Bullshit. Call you c or asm code via JNI provided as a shared lib. Then do what ever you want: Make syscalls to the kernel and exploit the security holes.

Saying an app can not gain root would mean there is no security hole in Linux kernel. Can you proove this?

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

Good post. We need more ad hominem insults on Slashdot.

Re:What it doesn't say

[h4rr4r]

2.6.32.9-g103d848 is what uname on my 2.2 running droid says.

Re:What it doesn't say

[gollito]

It wasn't millions. They mis-stated that number and it turned out to only be a couple hundred thousand. Still a fairly large number but not as large as stated.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

The article is a troll piece hoping for clicks for ads. Here's the bug in question

Re:What it doesn't say

[Svartalf]

Actually, if you make a native call, you're outside of the VM unless the code you called gives it back to the VM. It's been the same since the UCSD P-Code system DECADES ago (and, yes, I've been at it that long, folks...). Any system calls you make or similar leave you open to attack.

It's NOT unhackable. It's not invulnerable. If you think it is, you're fooling itself. Now, your statement wasn't one of that- it was one of the VM being incapable of being broken out of as a sandbox. Which, you will find, if you think long and hard about it, I've disproven. Now, your new remark, one of providing the security ourselves, etc.- you'll find this proves that and I'd wholly agree with your remark there.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Svartalf]

itself==yourself... Sigh... Need to check my posts a little closer before submitting them.

Re:What it doesn't say

[gig]

What the fuck does iPhone have to do with this? Absolutely nothing.

You don't have to sneak anything into Android Market. The apps aren't audited, and apps can be installed from other sources as well. And since there is so little money in it, the incentive to put on a black hat is large. This is all 180 degrees opposite to iPhone. Completely different.

Re:What it doesn't say

[gig]

Everything is a computer now or soon will be. Not everyone is a computer scientist or soon will be. Therefore, computers have to be secured by the manufacturer, not by the user.

This is consumer computing, not kit sales. Android phones are sold to consumers. There is no excuse for the manufacturer not patching them. Any comparison that is similar to Windows is not a defense, it's an indictment. Consumers did not choose Windows ... PC makers did.
 

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

You still can't root the phone via the ndk - because native code still has to run through the vm interface not the other way around.

Re:What it doesn't say

[Zero__Kelvin]

FTA:

"To date, very little has been discussed regarding rootkits on mobile devices."

This article is clearly moronic drivel.

"We have developed a kernel-level Android rootkit in the form of a loadable kernel module. The implications of this are huge; an attacker can proceed to read all SMS messages on the device/incur the owner with long-distance costs, even potentially pin-point the mobile device's exact GPS location."

I think I remember hearing about this Linux weakness before. Anybody who already has root access to my system, and can load and unload kernel modules at will, could potentially read my e-mails and SMS messages! When will Linus fix this glaring security hole?

Re:What it doesn't say

[Anonymous Coward]

$ adb shell
# uname -a
Linux localhost 2.6.34.1-OpenDesire #43 PREEMPT Sat Jul 31 21:18:17 BST 2010 armv7l GNU/Linux

Re:What it doesn't say

[PastaLover]

What the fuck does iPhone have to do with this? Absolutely nothing.

I think his point was that if you can sneak something like that into the iPhone's app store, surely it's easy to get it in the android app store. Don't think he realised the android app store is basically free to get into.

You don't have to sneak anything into Android Market. The apps aren't audited, and apps can be installed from other sources as well. And since there is so little money in it, the incentive to put on a black hat is large. This is all 180 degrees opposite to iPhone. Completely different.

IIRC, it's basically a 100$ to get an app into the itunes app store. It's harder to get a proof of concept in there, but I'm pretty sure anyone motivated to put some real malware in there stands to make a bit more than that. Even if I follow your assumption that there's more legit money to be made there than in the android app store (perhaps likely, given the android app store doesn't even operate for pay in many of the countries android phones are available), I still don't see how that is supposed to make any difference with criminals. All they care about is installed base and (relatedly) ROI, which is probably higher for iPhones (easier to target, monoculture OS etc.). If you have trouble getting past the review process, just make another fart app, or rip off somebody else's app. Unlikely reviewers will notice.

Admittedly this is all a bit off topic, but the situation is not totally different. Unless you mean "even more scary".

Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

iPhone will always be the safest phone, all you linux and windows noobs getting your viruses and what not. All hail Apple!

Re:Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

is it just me, or are apple fanboys becoming more and more cultist-like?

Re:Apple

[tholomyes]

It's just you:

Domain Name: CULTOFMAC.COM

Creation Date: 31-jan-2002

Not Helpful

[Nom du Keyboard]

This is not a helpful development. Just another assh--- trying to show off what he (or she) thinks he can do better.

Re:Not Helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not a helpful development. Just another assh--- trying to show off what he (or she) thinks he can do better.

Would you feel better if they didn't tell other people about they exploits they find? If the security holes are there it is better for people to hear about them.

Re:Not Helpful

[phantomfive]

Exactly. A rootkit doesn't let you hack into the device, it's not an exploit, and this doesn't mean Android is vulnerable. It's a program that runs after you already have access to the device. In fact, I have no doubt that there are hundreds of thousands of programmers here on Slashdot who could write an Android rootkit in an afternoon.

Re:Not Helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not a helpful development. Just another assh--- trying to show off what he (or she) thinks he can do better.

This is not a helpful comment. Just another assh--- trying to attack research that he (or she) doesn't approve of.

Re:Not Helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

Just another assh---

I find myself wondering about the sort of person who has no problems with the word "ass" but is so offended by the word "hat" that he (or she) feels the need to censor it in a slashdot comment.

Re:Not Helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

cf. g*ddamn

Re:Not Helpful

[fermion]

One can either leave the gate to the garden open or the gate to the garden closed. A closed and secured gate is a known security model with known consequences and benefits. If the gate is open, then it is important to show that other security measures, like limited access once is inside the garden to limit damage, provides sufficient security. If your garden is so uninteresting that no one ventures inside, then there is no evidence of security, just lameness.

Therefore if the Android OS is to be shown to be secure, even against apps that user load on the phone, because there is no way a priori to know if an App is malicious, developers must write potentially malicious apps and test if they will cause harm or not. We already know from this conference that "Jackeeey Wallpaper" collects and publishes phone numbers and browser history from the phone, not a huge data breach, but shows the open garden is not fully protected.

Re:Not Helpful

[Securityemo]

It's a helpful development - because any edge the "public pool" of hacking software and tricks gets over the "hidden pools" exploited by immoral hackers for selling pickpocketing software and botnets to criminals is helpful, as the relationship between companies business risk/reward and the "security scene" now stands. Even if this may seem counterintuitive at first glance.

Re:Not Helpful

[zuperduperman]

We already know from this conference that "Jackeeey Wallpaper" collects and publishes phone numbers and browser history from the phone

Actually what we know is that no such thing happened and that nearly the whole story was made up. I suppose it is still fun to spread the FUD around though!

Re:Not Helpful

[Anonymous Coward]

The article you posted says the essentially the same thing. The wall paper collects data, and Google considers it malicious enough to suspend the App.

Re:Not Helpful

[shutdown -p now]

I found myself wondering when "assh" was released and why I missed it, and, most importantly, how it is different from bash and zsh.

I guess it's meant to be a BOFH's shell of choice.

Re:Not Helpful

[Narnie]

Yeah, we could write that rootkit, but we're way too busy with real life and reading /. to get it done. I recommend posting an image of the rootkit you want on /b/ --they have enough free time and lack of engineering standards to get it done.

Re:Not Helpful

[PastaLover]

Probably someone who's used to working around bad word filters. A lot of the lolspeak you find in online games these days makes a lot more sense when you realise it partly grew out of a desire to dodge autobans and the like.

Oh how clever...

[gowen]

I've noticed a 0-day vulnerability in old ladies in that I can hit them over the head with a cudgel and steal their handbags. I'm going to a black-hat muggers conference to hand out cudgels and more detailed instruction. But that doesn't make be an utter scumbag, oh no. I'm a "security researcher", that's what I am, only interested in increased security for old ladies.

Re:Oh how clever...

[sco08y]

I've noticed a 0-day vulnerability in old ladies in that I can hit them over the head with a cudgel and steal their handbags.

Already patched; the handbags have been upgraded to include a pink-enameled snub .38.

Re:Oh how clever...

[erroneus]

I think you and many others on your side of the fence are missing something important. You know those cheap tiny "locks" that come with so many little boxes or other devices? The ones that all have the same key? Would you consider using those to lock anything important up? I'm guessing you wouldn't. You probably realize that they are too weak even to be considered a lock at all.

For some im/morality is enough of a deterrent to prevent them from doing bad things. For others, fear of punishment under the law might be enough. But without a doubt, it's not enough for everyone. Some of those people will go to great and surprising lengths to get what they want. And there are most certainly weaknesses and vulnerabilities that are not shared with the general public. And without these larger events that literally celebrate sneaky, underhanded tricks, the "secrets" shared there would also remain as dark, underground secrets that are known by a few.

Let's put it another way. These events that you seem to believe shouldn't exist serve as a spotlight not only to humiliate the vendors and producers of bad locks, but also sheds light on otherwise dark and unknown vulnerabilities giving the public an opportunity for awareness they wouldn't otherwise have and for them not to become victims of these weaknesses. These celebrations help to reduce the number of secret vulnerabilities by making them less secret.

Do you really think it would be better if people got owned and never find out why or how?

Some of these security researchers are the Louis Pasteurs of the day. Before Pasteur, people believed in "spontaneous generation." Currently, many people still believe their computers and other devices are simply magic.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone is presenting a "new" 0-day exploit at DefCon, it's already out there more than likely. For a company that ignores security, this is the only way to push them to patch something. However, Google has been good about patching security vulnerabilities. So I don't quite get what's going on here, except for getting attention.

My inner conspiracy theorist say this is revenge from Microsoft for the release of the 0-day Google put out recently.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've noticed a 0-day vulnerability in old ladies in that I can hit them over the head with a cudgel and steal their handbags.

Already patched; the handbags have been upgraded to include a pink-enameled snub .38.

Awesome, so then I can shoot her with her own gun as well as stealing her purse?

Re:Oh how clever...

[Nerdfest]

computers and other devices are simply magic.

Why wouldn't they; some of them are even advertised that way.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're going to believe in advertising, you might as well believe in magic anyway

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the bullets weren't included in the update.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

"A wise man once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

for many people we've reached that point

Re:Oh how clever...

[cstacy]

You know those cheap tiny "locks" that come with so many little boxes or other devices? The ones that all have the same key? Would you consider using those to lock anything important up? I'm guessing you wouldn't.

Absolutely! Well, maybe it would be sufficient for, like, an ATM...

Re:Oh how clever...

[DoraLives]

If you're going to believe in advertising, you might as well believe in magic anyway

Have a closer look at most of the people all around you.

Now read what you just wrote, once again.

Re:Oh how clever...

[blair1q]

In this case, the little old ladies already have to be holding the cudgel as well as the handbag.

Re:Oh how clever...

[A1rmanCha1rman]

computers and other devices are simply magic.

Why wouldn't they; some of them are even advertised that way.

Like my electronics teacher told my class "if you really think that n-p-n junctions are actually how semi-conductors work, you'll believe anything you are told".

The scientific and logical explanations for the phenomena that underlie the technology we use are simply that, explanations. You'll never see n-p-n junctions under any microscope, because there probably aren't any.

Even if there were, think about it, it won't make the phenomena of natural processes any less magical.

All is magic...

Re:Oh how clever...

[Nyder]

I've noticed a 0-day vulnerability in old ladies in that I can hit them over the head with a cudgel and steal their handbags. I'm going to a black-hat muggers conference to hand out cudgels and more detailed instruction. But that doesn't make be an utter scumbag, oh no. I'm a "security researcher", that's what I am, only interested in increased security for old ladies.

Sorry, My Great-Great-Great-notsoGreat-Grandfather patented this back in 1800's. It's in public domain now.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Nyder]

I think you and many others on your side of the fence are missing something important. You know those cheap tiny "locks" that come with so many little boxes or other devices? The ones that all have the same key? Would you consider using those to lock anything important up? I'm guessing you wouldn't. You probably realize that they are too weak even to be considered a lock at all.

That brings up a funny story.

When I was in 9th grade, I used one of those cheap locks to lock up my gym/tennis crap (just tennis shorts, shoes, nothing big) and someone broke it open to steal my shorts. Well, seeing as they are tennis shorts, and only people that play tennis usually wear them, it wasn't hard for me to figure out who stoled them.

So what did I do?

Nothing. He was a big thug and it wasn't worth me getting my ass kicked.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Pete from NYC]

LOL. Literally. And I'm by myself. And I'm anti-guns / pro-gun-control. But, well done,sir.

Re:Oh how clever...

[sco08y]

It's funny because it's true, scroll down to the bottom, they have a whole line of purses with built-in holsters.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

About time someone said it. Thank you sir!

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

The general public doesn't know jack shit about these events. Most people would probably think DefCon was a film or something. And when they get owned, they still never know 'why' or 'how'.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would suggest we don't talk about this stuff at all, but when a 'security researcher' in a self-righteous masturbation fest, releases the full proof-of-concept of an exploit, or distributes a rootkit, it allows even the most gormless script kiddy to immediately cook up malware, and ends up aggrevating the problem a hell of a lot more than fixing it.

I really get the impression that a lot of this is "look at me, I'm so clever" at the expense of increasing the circulation of malware.

Re:Oh how clever...

[dwpbike]

they aren't?

Re:Oh how clever...

[exomondo]

al-qaeda exposed a zero-day vulnerability in airport security...they aren't terrorists, they are 'security researchers'.

Re:Oh how clever...

[eUdudx]

Down in Texas, before you get the .038 from the handbag they would have already clocked you in the nuts with their broken frilly drink glass...your beer can would be a poor defense.

Re:Oh how clever...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why wouldn't they; some of them are even advertised that way.
This is incorrect only HP's use magic to make up for the fact that their stuff doesn't work correctly due to being put together in dungeons by serfs - indeed HP magic is entirely due to CEO leadership having previously had an evil witch as CEO and now a overlord hell bent on ensuring that all staff are happy to have a wand inserted where wands shouldn't go otherwise they get zapped.... mind you if you select wand mode, I've heard that once it is inserted staff quickly discover zapping would have been the preferable choice. If you thought Cartman's 80 foot (24 m) satellite dish was bad.... well you don't want to know what HP staff who select the wand endure... Fortunately increasingly numbers of staff are escaping the dark side of the death star that is HP.... so there is a glimmer of hope for my friends still trapped on the exploding death star that is HP....

Cool

[Svenne]

Can this be used to gain root on Android devices with a locked bootloader? That would be neat. Imagine rooting your phone without having to flash it.

Re:Cool

[MrHanky]

You don't need to flash your phone to root it. (How do you flash your phone without rooting it?) Here's how I did mine.

I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Anonymous Coward]

... an important question.

(The spider labs people claim) they did this to prompt Google to issue a fix. However, since the carriers seem to be very slow in updating the Android OS for their phones (a substantial number, perhaps a majority have never received an update), WHEN CAN WE EXPECT A FIX to get to the millions of phones out there? Compare this to the Apple ecosystem which received an update for their (admittedly widely publicized) Antennagate issue within weeks (whether or not it actually fixed anything is another question). In general Apple devices are (forcibly?) updated much more quickly. Perhaps this is because of his holinesses... I mean Steve Jobs powers of persuasion. ;)

Of course as an A/C I can't prove it but if you look at the submission, you'll see that's what I said. I no longer login because I feel that while attacking a company's products is fair game (specifically Apple), having stories singling out their users as "selfish" and unkind is not "news for nerds stuff that matters". Am I an Apple fanboi? Let's just say I've used NIX for decades (yes I'm old) and I'm not talking OS X.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Nerdfest]

Apple has historically been very slow in patching exploits. There have been Java VM exploits and others that they've about a year behind the curve on. I think the issue only received the attention it got because of media hype. Overall, I think patches for exploits should be made available to everyone as soon as they're ready like Linux does. Doing ''scheduled" updates like Microsoft does is ridiculous, as is carriers being involved in sending out updates to the Android OS.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[witherstaff]

I have a Samsung Mobile from Sprint, it's running 2.1 and will no longer be upgraded by Sprint according to their news release.

Another annoyance with carriers having to provide the upgrade is they toss in extra junk programs. I have an amazon MP3 store, sprint live Nascar, and other apps that can not be removed. Samsung also tossed in a few non-standard apps, like Moxier Mail, which costs $25 on the app store. So there are some minor benefits to using the network provided Android.

I like these kernel hacks, if they cause enough problems it may force Sprint to give me 2.2!

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[zogger]

Normally I am one to not want yet another new law, but I think in this case there should be a law that says these gadget sellers and makers should support their devices for x-years, whether they want to or not, beyond the normal short warranties and covering more stuff. And that would include security fixes. They are obviously just wanting you to trash perfectly functional devices to buy something new all the time.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cellphone manufacturers/telcos have historically not patched exploits.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Antennagate

Kill yourself.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Woah hold on there Castro.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[zogger]

Ya, pretty radical left, I know....

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[tlhIngan]

In general Apple devices are (forcibly?) updated much more quickly. Perhaps this is because of his holinesses... I mean Steve Jobs powers of persuasion. ;)

Nope. Apple does not force any software update on anyone. I have my original iPhone still running at 2.something (with the SMS flaw), simply because I was too lazy to do the required jailbreaking on it.

This is unlike say, the Palm Pre, where you can delay an update, but you can't avoid it. I think Android devices are also voluntary updates as well, but the carrier can go force the issue (see what Rogers did by forcing an unrootable firmware on their G1s).

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[tlhIngan]

I have a Samsung Mobile from Sprint, it's running 2.1 and will no longer be upgraded by Sprint according to their news release.

Another annoyance with carriers having to provide the upgrade is they toss in extra junk programs. I have an amazon MP3 store, sprint live Nascar, and other apps that can not be removed. Samsung also tossed in a few non-standard apps, like Moxier Mail, which costs $25 on the app store. So there are some minor benefits to using the network provided Android.

I like these kernel hacks, if they cause enough problems it may force Sprint to give me 2.2!

Doubt it. Unless Samsung provides it, you won't get it. And if it was, there's probably hacked firmware available for you that you can load up yourself.

Sprint however, will probably use this as an opportunity to make firmware that can't be rooted and maybe even enforce ROM signatures so you can't load custom ROMs in.

(And why is it, that Apple basically gave their finger towards AT&T and did their own thing on firmware (so AT&T can't go load on all their crapware), everyone running Android is still catering to the carriers and loading in all their crapware on? Except maybe the Nexus One (no longer available), it seems no one dares give their finger to the carrier and "do their own thing" like Apple...).

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[bm_luethke]

In this particular case there is nothing to patch - the iPhone is *just* as vulnerable to this as Android too.

In order to run this particular "exploit" you have to first root the phone, wipe your old OS off the phone, and install the new one they provide. One can also jailbreak and iPhone and install a different OS or rootkit on their phone too. If you want to "patch" this do what Motorola did with the Droid-X - disallow a custom rom to be installed and not allow you outside the dalvik VM (and in that case your "secure" iPhone is *more* susceptible to this type of thing as the underlying OS is MUCH more accessible when rooted).

I do not know why anyone here is shocked, shocked I say to find that when someone roots their phone they can install apps that do malicious things and then want someone to "patch" it (but leave the ability to root). Poor reporting by the submitter and by the editors, though that has plagued here for a *long* time (which is why one should read the comments of a sensational story).

Though your question about updates is not a bad one you are, again, not saved by Apple. A great deal of them out there can not run iOS 4 and are end of lifed. In any computer that you are running an OS that is not updated, and Apple is no different here, then security fixes do not get put int. Lets face it, if you are running a 2.4 kernel and find a security issue that chances of it getting fixed are quite slim too. Our phones are computers that happen to have some form of a cell connection in them, not a phone that has some general purpose computing hardware added to it. The sooner we all realize this the better, though I guess I will have to say that many Apple fanbois also think their desktop or laptop is "different" and doesn't have any issues that a general purpose computer does.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[bm_luethke]

As long as the phones are tied to a two year contract - certainly. As long as they are conspiring with the hardware manufacturers certainly. I do not mind buying some new all the time, indeed I wouldn't mind upgrading my Droid to either an Incredible or a Droid-2 when it comes out, but unless I pay some extortionate price for the thing I can't. Yes, I said extortionate deliberately - their price for the device is inflated so as to only purchase in two year increments. There is no way that my Droid costs more than a lesser equipped iPad does.

When phones were, well, phones then I thought that it was a racket too but it wasn't that onerous. It was irritating, but the cost difference wouldn't have been that different. As "phones" move towards being general purpose computers that also have cell antenna's in them then things change.

The cell carriers in the US have such a strong lock on the vertical part of the market that they can dictate prices for "unlocked phones" (if you can even find them). IMO if they want to keep that lock on the market (otherwise known as a monopoly - we normally mostly worry and talk over horizontal ones but a vertical one is just as bad or worse) they either need (like other legal monopolies) consumer protection regulations or that market being broke up. Many - and I'm not necessarily including you - seek to increase competition horizontally and that isn't going to work, the collusion isn't amongst that carriers it is amongst the carriers and hardware manufacturers. You need competition in *both* markets.

The problem here is that so many aren't making their money from the consumer (well, sorta - read the rest) they are making it through manufacturer deals that artificially inflate the prices. Given that a cell phone is pretty near an inelastic market it means they can do pretty much what they want and people will do it. Similar markets are regulated for a reason, cell carriers need to be similarly regulated too. Either that or forced to break up the monopolistic practices (and again, it is a *vertical* monopoly so pointing out market share of the different carriers is irrelevant - plenty of horizontal competition).

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[gig]

They are by no means forcibly updated, they are just automatically updated. The imperative to update is that the whole community updates quickly and if you stay behind, new 3rd party software is harder to use. For example, if you are on iOS v2 right now (which almost nobody is), there are many apps you can't install until you update. So 77% of Macs are running the latest Mac OS, and even though iOS v4 is only a month old, it's already on a higher percentage of iPhones than Android v2. By September or so, it will be hard to find an iPhone running iOS v3. So Apple platforms are a moving target.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[gig]

> Apple has historically been very slow in patching exploits.

Bullshit. That is just not true. Java is a bad example because it's 3rd party software, not system software. The reality is that every Apple device gets a new kernel every few months, and a number of security patches per year.

Apple may take a little longer than others to release a patch for an issue that say, exists on all Unix, because they do extra testing due to the fact that they have consumer and creative users. Most Macs don't have an I-T person managing them, the patch absolutely has to work. But because of the Mac OS Software Update system and iTunes managing the mobiles, they roll out patches to the entire community much, much faster than anyone else. Out-of-date Apple software is dead and buried fast on Apple's systems.

Compare Android v2.2 deployment to iOS v4 deployment. Android v2.2 shipped one month earlier, yet Android v2.2 is on 1-2% of Android phones, while iOS v4 is on well over 50% of iPhones. Even the v4.0.1 which is 10 days old is on 25% already. And these are very regular consumer users. The iOS release comes through the same pipe as their movie rentals and is as easy to put on the phone.

Before you knock Apple's security or patching, consider they have had 3 years with no iOS malware at all, and almost 10 years with no Mac OS X viruses or botnets, and only 3 non-commercial malware which don't even run on the latest major OS release and which affected almost no users. So consider that they must be doing something right when all other PC's are crippled with malware and viruses routinely, and Android has commercial malware, even getting served out of Android Market. The majority of Windows PC's are 2 major versions out of date (9 years) and the majority of Android phones are 1 major version out of date (1 year). They are standing still while malware authors take aim.

   

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Skuld-Chan]

Interestingly enough - the Amazon mp3 app comes with the stock Nexus One rom ;).

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Skuld-Chan]

There probably isn't a fix - as this is a kernel module it would be tricky at best to install from a regular app (from inside the vm). This would mostly affect phones that have easily customizable roms.

Checking to see if the kernel is tainted is tricky because once the kernel is patched by malicious code its pretty much game over from that point on as the rootkit is going to cloak itself from anything that could check.

Apple would have the same problem - with little recourse, but then they don't really care about customized iPhones.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ever wonder why you get Java updates through Apple's Software Update? Because it is maintained by Apple. So it's great example. Not thare you care because the rest of your post is fanboy crap.

Re:I posted this story but the editors cut out...

[wkcole]

I have a Samsung Mobile from Sprint,

99.999% sure you mean "Moment" not "Mobile".

I have one also, and it is the most disappointing tech purchase I've ever made...

it's running 2.1 and will no longer be upgraded by Sprint according to their news release.

Another annoyance with carriers having to provide the upgrade is they toss in extra junk programs. I have an amazon MP3 store, sprint live Nascar, and other apps that can not be removed. Samsung also tossed in a few non-standard apps, like Moxier Mail, which costs $25 on the app store. So there are some minor benefits to using the network provided Android.

I like these kernel hacks, if they cause enough problems it may force Sprint to give me 2.2!

Dream on. Nothing can force Sprint to put out a 2.2 load for the Moment, because it is not their device. It is Samsung's hardware, and Samsung has made every dime they ever can from every Moment sold so far, and they have no interest in having any more sold. The phone has serious widely reported defects[0] and Samsung has already moved on to their next round of consumer fraud^W^Wmodels. Sprint has to collaborate on deploying upgrades to the Moment, but Samsung ultimately controls whether they get created.

What I am hoping for and have not yet determined is that this hack will make it easier for me to root and reflash my Moment. All of the existing mechanisms for escaping the standard Samsung/Sprint distribution require a real Windows machine to run black-box binaries that provide the initial 'root' foothold by talking some not-really-USB magic at the device's firmware in "recovery mode." Aside from the skin-crawling effect of that concept, I do not have a Windows machine. To load the Samsung/Sprint 2.1 release, I had to set up Boot Camp on one of my Macs, use a Windows disk & license my wife bought for running a VM on her Mac, scrub myself afterwards until all the hot water was gone, and chug a pint of Everclear to erase the pain.

[0]See the Sprint forum for the gory details. My least favorite is the not-really-airplane-mode: using WiFi drives the CDMA radio into a delayed catatonia that demands a hard reboot to resolve. The ridiculously inadequate battery and its seemingly random charge/usage characteristics, misplacement of the card slot, Bluetooth that isn't really there, USB that isn't USB, and shoddy auto-misfocus camera are tied for a close 2nd place among the fundamental hardware flaws.

Two things ...

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

1st:

Not news. Anything with a processor in it can run software. That software can do a number of things, and, considering that the processor is turing complete, it can actually do anything. Including allowing remote stealth access. That is NOT news and is NOT a vulnerability or anything to get excited about. Show me that you found a buffer overflow in Android's TCP stack that allows you to run arbitrary code on the device remotely. Of course you can put a rootkit in there after gaining access, you could run tetris for all I care. If you need unlimited rw access to the software to setup your malware, that is not fucking news.

2nd:

FTFA:

"Attendees pay $140 in cash to attend and are not required to provide their names to attend the conference. Law enforcement posts undercover agents in the audience to spot criminals and government officials recruit workers to fight computer crimes and for the Department of Defense."
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; additional reporting by Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; editing by Andre Grenon)

Wow. Just wow. Attentive Attendees attend to the conference. No shit. Andre Grenon could be a /. editor.

Re:Two things ...

[LS]

Speaking of which, I was kind of wondering if this was some underhanded attempt at an attack on the image of Android by Apple. Isn't this what they called FUD in regards to Microsoft propaganda? This is definitely FUD as well, and maybe Apple is the one that is propagating it these days. Though they are smarter about not tying it back to themselves...

Re:Two things ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Anything with a processor in it can run software. That software can do a number of things, and, considering that the processor is turing complete, it can actually do anything. Including allowing remote stealth access.

No, the "anything" in Turing-completeness does not in fact include allowing remote stealth access. Theoretically, a non-Turing complete processor with an antenna could be hacked to allow remote stealth access in some manner, and a Turing complete processor with no input other than the program itself might not be hackable in such a way.

More power to open source!

[nephridium]

It seems the main attack vector would be a "rogue app", just like with this recent story.

I deem myself lucky that all software I have installed on my N900 is open source, which means I (or anyone else) can check the code, compile it and improve it anytime I feel the need to - it's as simple as on any debian based system, "apt-get source", "make" etc. - That alone makes it the superior platform imho, though obviously it doesn't come with all the bling-bling apps and games that Apfel and Google supplies you with. For me openness trumps gimmicks anytime.

It also don't hurt that many of the tools and scripts I use on my Ubuntu workstation can directly be used on the phone as well.

On a tongue in cheek note: the only two packages (out of 868) that vrms admonishes about are "human-icon-theme" and "tangerine-theme" - but they probably don't pose a security risk ;)

Re:More power to open source!

[CRCulver]

I have an N900 too and I love it, but I wouldn't claim that the nature of its software distribution makes it all that much more secure. Linux distribution package repositories have been tainted with malware in the past, in spite of the hope that community observation would guarantee their purity.

Re:More power to open source!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah and for how long?

Re:More power to open source!

[nephridium]

Thanks for the input, I wasn't aware of malware that was distributed through Maemo or Debian, could you name a few?

I'm always willing to get my facts straight :) - In any case, I believe open source, like sunlight, is the best disinfectant. Unlike with Apfel/Android nothing stops me from checking the source prior to installing - that means at least in theory I'd be far more secure (in practice, of course, but maybe others do).

Re:More power to open source!

[SheeEttin]

I deem myself lucky that all software I have installed on my N900 is open source, which means I (or anyone else) can check the code, compile it and improve it anytime I feel the need to

And have you?
If you haven't, you're not that much better off. Assuming others have read the source and checked for security isn't a very good policy.

Difference between open source and closed source

[davidwr]

With open source, it's easier for the good guys to spot - and fix - problems.

Re:black people

[Anonymous Coward]

Black people got places to go, what's wrong with that?

My phone is safer than the iphone

[davidwr]

Unfortunately, they turned off the analogue towers here a few years ago....

Re:My phone is safer than the iphone

[MrLint]

I think your post's parent is hearing voices in something other than a cell phone

Reverse TCP?

[Improv]

What does that even mean?

Re:Reverse TCP?

[Anonymous Coward]

What does that even mean?

PCT. Duh.

Re:Reverse TCP?

[OopsIDied]

It means that the rootkit can establish a connection from the victim to the attacker and receive orders from him/her. Since it's TCP i'm guessing it can also connect to IRC and other services that use TCP rather than UDP or more obscure protocols.

Re:Reverse TCP?

[Improv]

Ohhh they didn't mean reversing the concept of TCP, they really meant to just reverse the direciton of connection. They really could've phased that better.

Justification for eFuses?

[GreenTom]

Does this give any justification to the "self-destructing" Motorola phones? (http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/10/07/15/1317205.shtml, though later stores say they don't really permanently self-destruct)

Looks like MOT is thinking about this--if you do want a secure phone, seems like hardware verification of ROMs and bootloader are a necessary starting point. That at least gives you a solid foundation to build a security infrastructure on. Now let's see MOT build on this by releasing rootkit detectors and we might actually be seeing a genuine step towards real secure computing.

Great...

[Anonymous Coward]

.. make a rootkit and hand it out to every script kiddie in the world.... THAT'S REALLY GONNA HELP !!!

assholes.

Re:black people

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the funniest FP troll I've seen in a long time...

NO.

[Svartalf]

If you can "self-destruct" a phone that way, then it becomes a nifty way to do a DoS attack on those phones.

Re:NO.

[GreenTom]

I'd think I'd rather have my phone brick than get rooted, as long as there's some way I can reset it to factory config.

Re:NO.

[h4rr4r]

I would rather root my phone, than have motorola provide security. By which they mean decide what software you are allowed to use.

At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[Jahava]

So yet more developers want to make a make for themselves by elevating a non-issue. I am currently attending their talk, and must admit that I am disappointed.

The first half of the presentation is them chatting about.how rooting a phone is desirable due to its intimate association with the user.No shit! Everybody knows this.

So let's get to the interesting part: There is no new attack vector. No propagation from Dalvik VM to kernel. No new technique. They wrote a Linux rootkit, like anyone can do. It is a kernel module. Anyone can make one of those. It hooks the kernel in various places to hide itself from various process / module listings. How innovative? Please.

The call this an exploit ... nothing is exploited. They willingly participate in the installation at the root level. Their conclusion seems to be that someone with root has access to everything on a system. Shocking, eh?

The only funny part is that this took them 2 weeks to create. How terribly disappointing.

Re:At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[Jahava]

But that's the point... no attack vector means nothing interesting. The rootkit and its capabilities are presumed! It's common knowledge that anything software (kernel and higher) can do, a rootkit can do. Software can obviously make calls, read and send text messages, etc., therefore a rootkit can too. Same goes with Apple, by the way.

I'm not saying that there is no attack vector... just that this story is a non-issue, as all it exposes is already obvious. Let a hacker find an attack vector. Hopefully he'll present it next DEFCON, and that would be very interesting. Regardless, the rootkit never was the technical challenge.

FWIW, a subsequent presentation does show a privilege escalation Android exploit. Was very cool. Anyone who can write one of these can drool the rootkit in his sleep.

Re:At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell are you talking about?

The OP makes a perfectly valid point...

Little sensitive much?

Re:At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, anyone who had actually found an attack vector to install this rootkit could have easily written the rootkit themselves as well.

Nobody important really cared that rooted iPhones with default passwords were compromised via SSH (well, outside of finding it maybe interesting), either.

Re:At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[Anonymous Coward]

Where's the fanboyism in this? Anyone with a jailbroken iPhone has exactly the same "vulnerability", and that's that they could install untrusted code with arbitrary privilege. There is no remote attack vector, and for any phone in its stock configuration, there isn't even a local one.

But you keep on rocking with that persecution complex.

Re:At talk right now ... NON-ISSUE!

[bm_luethke]

Yea because if you jailbreak and iPhone we all know you can't install malicious software. If you could then we would all be making 500+ posts over it. Here not only do you have to root the phone but you have to erase your old OS and install theirs - obviously MUCH easier than on the iPhone (and there is a fix for this - it is called and eFuse on the Droid-X but that is Evil(TM) and shouldn't be allowed).

It is not a *new* attack vector nor a particularly interesting one any more than a rootkit on a jailbroken iPhone is. Nor do I believe knowing that there can be one like that on the iPhone would cause hundreds of "I hate Apple" posts - well anymore than this one created "I hate Android" ones (that is people who didn't bother to see how the "exploit" occurred assumed it was something it wasn't).

I Don't Care

[birukun]

I only do online banking with my phone.... all the important stuff like Facebook and Twitter I ONLY do from my Windows 2000 machine at home. (Security through Obscurity - you should try it sometime)

"Walled Garden": BAD! "Open Sores": GOOD!

[Chris Tucker]

"Paging Ed Felten. Will a Mr. Ed Felten please pick the white courtesy 'PWN', please? Thank you!"

That's what they think.

[blair1q]

I bet the Android rootkit isn't the only rootkit on that CD... I for one wouldn't put anything I obtained at DefCon into any equipment I owned. Maybe not even into my shredder.

Re:That's what they think.

[Nyder]

I bet the Android rootkit isn't the only rootkit on that CD... I for one wouldn't put anything I obtained at DefCon into any equipment I owned. Maybe not even into my shredder.

Ya, that happened to me. Had a disc with some virus & trojans on it. I put it in my electric shredder and sure enough, my shredder got infected. Then it, using the electric outlet, infected my oven, my fridge, my alarm clock and dang it, my computer.

That's why you should never shred anything.

Re:That's what they think.

[beej]

I bet the Android rootkit isn't the only rootkit on that CD... I for one wouldn't put anything I obtained at DefCon into any equipment I owned. Maybe not even into my shredder.

I use my Blendtec. Seriously. It blends everything, and I have never once had a problem with it being hacked. Just blended some DefCon stuff earlier tonight, too. I keep the blender right here next to my... --Huh. That's weird. It was here just a few minutes ago. What is that strange electrical sound coming from my closet? Probably just, uh, rats... I'll just check it out... WHAT the! Blendtec! Noo! That won't blend! Aaaaauuuugghhh!

Fixed By Monday

[skyggen]

Yeah, this happened quite bit in the early days of Linux. Exploits were found and freely shared and patched within a couple of days. Come on even apache had some exploits or improperly set-up. This only seems strange from the Cathedral paradigm, wheres in the bazaar this is a normal occurrence.

A little social engineering there?

[A nonymous Coward]

Nice example that you wanted him to use -- the one that was shown to NOT be what the news made it out to be. Are you trying to trick him into making a false anecdote to buttress his claim, thereby giving you reason to laugh at him for that?

It roots my phone?

[Eggbloke]

This thing can root my phone without flashing new firmware? Where can I get it?

R2D2

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, interestingly enough a possible exploit (admittedly not super critical) was demonstrated couple of hours later at defcon 18. The presenter demonstrated how you can exploit the Bluetooth vulnerability CVE-2010-1084 to get root access to an android device not having Froyo (which is pretty much everyone). So attack vectors do exist, just give the hackers some more time.

Google.. you have 5 days to fix this

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe Tavis should have spend his time looking for Andriod vulnerabilities. Then we could have the fix in 5 days...

what is this ... i dont even...

[Anonymous Coward]

hey, I want this fixed :( don't want my phone to be hacked :(