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Newly-discovered Qualcomm flaw could allow an exploit to auto-root 900 million Android devices

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The newest Android security scare surrounds Qualcomm, one of the biggest chipset vendors of Android devices (and ARM-based smart devices in general). The flaw is being called Quadrooter, named so for its 4-pronged entry point into anyone’s phone. Someone exploiting this flaw could use one of those entry points to root a device and take complete control over it.

You’re probably wondering about the risk level and whether you’re covered. Unfortunately, this one’s a little unsettling: there are over 900 million devices affected, and the flaw hasn’t yet been completely patched. Qualcomm issued fixes for all of the holes to vendors over the past few months, and Google issued 3 of those in the security patches to be doled out since.

But there’s one flaw that the company didn’t receive the patch for in time, and with a security update not planned for another few weeks it will be a pretty sizable window to go without being protected from it. We’re not sure if Google will deem it severe enough to push out a quick hotfix ahead of the September rollout, but we imagine as long as there are no known exploits targeting the flaws then everything should be fine.

That’s only if nothing is targeting the flaw. We can’t yet know if anyone in the blackhat community knows about it and whether an exploit is already starting to make the rounds, so be sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for more info on the rollout of the patch in the coming weeks.

[via ZDNet]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

Imagine a future where all Samsung phones have curved displays

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