We all know that the biggest problem in today’s android system is fragmentation and manufacturer’s sloppy update policies. Stagefrigth, a bug that was discovered by Jousha Drake, created some serious doubts about android being safe . Google has already patched the bug, but as expected, getting it on our smartphones will be a tedious task- manufacturers and carriers hinder the speed and this is the biggest downfall of Android.
What is this bug?
Stagefright is a very serous bug that gives attacker access to files through a multimedia message even without user’s action to open the message itself.
How it is changing android industry?
Very unexpectedly, all major companies have notified pending patches for the bug and this is the very first time all companies have acknowledge the need of a responsive update policy. This is big. Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony and Android One have come up, and users will be getting the update later this month.
“The OEMs are now really understanding and the ecosystem is really understanding how to react more quickly, because we all see that it’s necessary” Adrian Ludwig told TheVerge.
Researchers have shown that the bug can be exploited even with a URL, and many more people have started to exploit it in the last 10 days than ever before.
Jhousha tweeted :
Hey guys! Instead of redoing/reproducing my work, why don’t you see if you can bypass ASLR via Stagefright!
— Joshua J. Drake (@jduck) August 3, 2015
ASLR, what?
ASLR is android mitigation which makes it harder for the attacker to gain access to a particular section of code, by though the vulnerability still exists, but due to Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) protections security the dangerous is significantly decreased.
This bug has already changed the perception of manufacturers, now we can hope to see the patch in weeks instead of months.
Source: TheVerge & Joshua Drake’s Twitter.
