99% of Android handsets vulnerable to account credential theft
99% of Android handsets vulnerable to account credential theft
A report filed by UK publication The Register details a scary weakness in most Android handsets currently being sold. The aforementioned vulnerability would allow attackers to collect and use digital tokens stored on a handset after a user authenticates to a password protected service. “The weakness stems from the improper implementation of an authentication protocol known as ClientLogin in Android versions 2.3.3 and earlier,” reads the report, quoting research from the University of Ulm. “After a user submits valid credentials for Google Calendar, Twitter, Facebook, or several other accounts, the programming interface retrieves an authentication token that is sent in cleartext. Because the authToken can be used for up to 14 days in any subsequent requests on the service, attackers can exploit them to gain unauthorized access to accounts.” Google has issued a patch for the ClientLogin protocol with Android 2.3.4 and Android 3.0, but, as The Register points out, only 1% of Android devices are currently running the updated code. More →
