Tag Archive for: Severe

Security audit raises severe warnings on Chinese smartphone models

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A child uses a smartphone.
Enlarge / Be sure you know what you’re getting into before buying and using unfamiliarly branded smartphones—especially international models not originally intended for your country.

The Lithuanian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently published a security assessment of three recent-model Chinese-made smartphones—Huawei’s P40 5G, Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G, and OnePlus’ 8T 5G. Sufficiently determined US shoppers can find the P40 5G on Amazon and the Mi 10T 5G on Walmart.com—but we will not be providing direct links to those phones, given the results of the NCSC’s security audit.

The Xiaomi phone includes software modules specifically designed to leak data to Chinese authorities and to censor media related to topics the Chinese government considers sensitive. The Huawei phone replaces the standard Google Play application store with third-party substitutes the NCSC found to harbor sketchy, potentially malicious repackaging of common applications.

Huawei's P40 is still stuck on Android 10, while Xiaomi ships with 10 but can be upgraded to 11. Only the OnePlus 8T shipped from the factory with Android 11 installed.

Huawei’s P40 is still stuck on Android 10, while Xiaomi ships with 10 but can be upgraded to 11. Only the OnePlus 8T shipped from the factory with Android 11 installed.

The OnePlus 8T 5G—arguably, the best-known and most widely marketed phone of the three—was the only one to escape the NCSC’s scrutiny without any red flags raised.

Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G

The NCSC found that seven default system apps on the Xiaomi phone can monitor media content for blocking from the user, using a regularly downloaded JSON file.

The NCSC found that seven default system apps on the Xiaomi phone can monitor media content for blocking from the user, using a regularly downloaded JSON file.

Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G ships with a nonstandard browser called “Mi Browser.” The NCSC found two components in Mi Browser which it didn’t like—Google Analytics, and a less familiar module called Sensor Data.

The Google Analytics module in Mi Browser can read from the device’s browsing and search history and can then send that data to Xiaomi servers for unspecified analysis and use. The Google Analytics module is activated automatically by default during the phone’s first activation or after any factory reset.

The NCSC found that Sensor Data’s module collects statistics on 61 parameters related to application…

Source…

Hackers are using a severe Windows bug to backdoor unpatched servers

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Hackers are using a severe Windows bug to backdoor unpatched servers

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

One of the most critical Windows vulnerabilities disclosed this year is under active attack by hackers who are trying to backdoor servers that store credentials for every user and administrative account on a network, a researcher said on Friday.

Zerologon, as the vulnerability has been dubbed, gained widespread attention last month when the firm that discovered it said it could give attackers instant access to active directories, which admins use to create, delete, and manage network accounts. Active directories and the domain controllers they run on are among the most coveted prizes in hacking because once hijacked, they allow attackers to execute code in unison on all connected machines. Microsoft patched CVE-2020-1472, as the security flaw is indexed, in August.

On Friday, Kevin Beaumont, working in his capacity as an independent researcher, said in a blog post that he had detected attacks on the honeypot he uses to keep abreast of attacks hackers are using in the wild. When his lure server was unpatched, the attackers were able to use a powershell script to successfully change an admin password and backdoor the server.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

One of this year’s most severe Windows bugs is now under active exploit

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Image of ones and zeros with the word

(credit: Pixabay)

One of the highest-impact Windows vulnerabilities patched this year is now under active exploitation by malicious hackers, Microsoft warned overnight, in a development that puts increasing pressure on laggards to update now.

CVE-2020-1472, as the vulnerability is tracked, allows hackers to instantly take control of the Active Directory, a Windows server resource that acts as an all-powerful gatekeeper for all machines connected to a network. Researchers have dubbed the vulnerability Zerologon, because it allows attackers with only minimal access to a vulnerable network to login to the Active Directory by sending a string of zeros in messages that use the Netlogon protocol.

Zerologon carries a critical severity rating from Microsoft as well as a maximum of 10 under the Common Vulnerability Scoring System. Despite the high rating, the escalation-of-privileges vulnerability received scant, if any, attention when Microsoft patched it in August, and Microsoft deemed the chances of actual exploitation “less likely.”

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica