The flaws exist in an app called SHAREit, which allows Android app users to share files between friends or devices. They were identified and reported to the app maker three months ago by researchers at Trend Micro. However, the flaws remain unpatched, according to a report posted online Monday. “We decided to disclose our research three months after reporting this since many users might be affected by this attack, because the attacker can steal sensitive data and do anything with the apps’ permission,” Echo Duan, a mobile threats analyst for Trend Micro, wrote in the report. Trend Micro also notified Google of the app’s issues, which lie in several flaws in its code that too easily give third parties permissions to take over legitimate app features, overwrite existing app files or even take over Android storage shared by multiple apps to execute malicious code, he said. TREND MICRO SHAREIT 1B STORECIMPANUZDNET ANDROID “We delved into the app’s code and found that it declares the broadcast receiver as ‘.DefaultReceiver,'” Duan explained in the post. “It receives the action ‘.install_completed’ and Extra Intent then calls the startActivity() function.” TREND MICRO SHAREIT 1B STORECIMPANUZDNET CODE “This shows arbitrary activities, including SHAREit’s internal (non-public) and external app activities.” Researchers built a simple proof of concept (PoC) and found that “any app can invoke this broadcast component,” he said.
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