GhostMap Android Flaw Can Leave Phones Stuck in Crash Loop
An Android security flaw could turn a seemingly ordinary app installation into a serious recovery problem, with some affected phones potentially requiring a factory reset.
Bitdefender Labs researchers have discovered an Android vulnerability dubbed GhostMap that can leave phones stuck in a continuous crash loop after installing a specially crafted app. The app doesn’t need to be opened, request permissions, or execute code to trigger the problem.
The research, shared with Hackread.com, traces the flaw to differences between Android libraries that parse application package (APK) files. APKs use the ZIP format, but Android’s libziparchive and libandroidfw libraries handle certain compression methods differently.
The problem lies in how the two Android librariesread the same APK file. One checks the file’s actual size, while the other trusts the size written inside it, and this discrepancy allows a malformed APK (file containing inconsistent information about its contents) to pass one library’s checks...
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