A critical flaw in Snapdragon affects 40% of Android smartphones worldwide

This week, the research team CheckPoint Research reported that it had discovered a critical flaw in some Qualcomm SoCs. This flaw, if exploited, would allow a hacker to access a lot of information on the phone. Fortunately, not all components of the Californian builder were affected. All of the affected platforms are part of the family MSM (Mobile Station Modem).

But you will find several dozen references. related to MSM6000 was released in 2006 until MSM8998aka Snapdragon 835, a high-end component Released in 2018. Almost every Qualcomm platform released in the meantime is one of these. This represents approximately 40% of the global smartphone fleet Covering Android in 2021. If you have an Android smartphone released between 2007 and 2018, there’s a good chance you’ll be affected. Of course, all major brands were affected, except Apple.

The flaw is more specifically related to the modem portion of the SoC. If exploited, it allows for several actions. The first is to intercept and access data passing through the modem. messages, call history and call content (phone surveillance). The second one is Decrypting the information contained on the SIM carda real safe where important data is stored. Third Hacking into Android system and as an action, injecting malware that all of this might require.

A flaw discovered in October 2020 and fixed two months later

Checkpoint Software researchers discovered this flaw October 2020 and had reported its existence to Qualcomm at the time. A patch was developed to close the flaw and was sent to relevant smartphone brands as of the month. December 2020. Then it’s up to them to roll it out to their installed base. Smartphones from 2018 (or even 2017) might be lucky enough to get it. But for others, the chances are relatively small.

Our advice is, of course, to check that your smartphone is up to date and that you have installed all security patches. Also check for updates in the Play Store: Some Android components are updated directly from the Google app store. Note that the Mountain View firm fixes several dozen Android vulnerabilities every month.