Google rushes out emergency fix for Android rooting exploit but most phones remain at risk

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If you own an Android device and are considering rooting it, you might want to read this:

 

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"Google says 'no' to rooting apps in Google Play and issues an emergency patch for Nexus devices to fix a critical kernel bug.

 

Google is trying to stamp out rooting apps that exploit an unpatched Linux kernel bug affecting all Android devices.

 

Google can't patch the vast majority of Android devices but it has judged that a number of rooting apps are dangerous enough to warrant an unscheduled patch for its own Nexus products.

 

According to an advisory on Friday, the unnamed rooting apps, which are available in Google Play and outside its app store, could lead to a "local permanent device compromise". Repairing the device would require reflashing the operating system."

 

Google was planning to patch the issue in an upcoming scheduled monthly update but pushed it forward after researchers at security firm Zimperium reported last week that the bug had been abused on a Nexus 5. Google then confirmed that a publicly available rooting app could also compromise the Nexus 6.

 

The advisory "applies to all unpatched Android devices on kernel versions 3.4, 3.10 and 3.14, including all Nexus devices. Android devices using Linux kernel version 3.18 or higher are not vulnerable," Google said.

 

The company has also updated the Android Verify Apps security feature to detect the rooting apps. Google hasn't said whether it has removed the rooting apps from Google Play but notes that such apps do violate Google Play's terms."

 

More with links and related articles here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-rushes-out-emergency-fix-for-android-rooting-exploit-but-most-phones-remain-at-risk/?tag=nl.e539&s_cid=e539&ttag=e539&ftag=TRE17cfd61