Android Bug Lets Hackers Plant Malware Via NFC Beaming

'Google patched last month an Android bug that can let hackers spread
malware to a nearby phone via a little-known Android OS feature called
NFC beaming. NFC beaming works via an internal Android OS service
known as Android Beam. This service allows an Android device to send
data such as images, files, videos, or even apps, to another nearby
device using NFC (Near-Field Communication) radio waves, as an
alternative to WiFi or Bluetooth. Typically, apps (APK files) sent via
NFC beaming are stored on disk and a notification is shown on screen.
The notification asks the device owner if he wants to allow the NFC
service to install an app from an unknown source. But, in January this
year, a security researcher named Y. Shafranovich discovered that apps
sent via NFC beaming on Android 8 (Oreo) or later versions would not
show this prompt. Instead, the notification would allow the user to
install the app with one tap, without any security warning.

The CVE-2019-2114 bug resided in the fact that the Android Beam app
was also whitelisted, receiving the same level of trust as the
official Play Store app. Google said this wasn't meant to happen, as
the Android Beam service was never meant as a way to install
applications, but merely as a way to transfer data from device to
device. The October 2019 Android patches removed the Android Beam
service from the OS whitelist of trusted sources. However, many
millions of users remain at risk. If users have the NFC service and
the Android Beam service enabled, a nearby attacker could plant
malware (malicious apps) on their phones.

Since most newly-sold devices have the NFC feature enabled by default,
you'll have to disable Android Beam and NFC or update your phone to
receive the October 2019 security updates if you want to protect
yourself from this bug.'

-- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/11/04/216228

Cheers, Peter
-- 
Peter Reutemann
Dept. of Computer Science
University of Waikato, NZ
+64 (7) 858-5174
http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/
http://www.data-mining.co.nz/
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