ANDROIDOS_ROMTROJ.HBT

 Analysis by: Veo Zhang

 THREAT SUBTYPE:

Information Stealer, Malicious Downloader, Spying Tool

 PLATFORM:

Android OS

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 DAMAGE POTENTIAL:
 DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Backdoor

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted:

  • In the wild: Yes

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size:

26964 bytes

File Type:

APK

Memory Resident:

Yes

Initial Samples Received Date:

14 Mar 2014

NOTES:

This malware exists in many tampered customized phone rom images as a backdoor open to cybercriminals.

If users try to flash this kind of tampered image into the device, it puts their devices in compromised situation.

It registers as a system service on system booting or any outgoing call. It sets timer restarting in an interval of 30 minutes to avoid shutdown, that is to say, it is always be running in background.

It connects to remote server http://{BLOCKED}.{BLOCKED}.18.43/init/ and setup Javascript interface to remote server. This means that the remote server can invoke dangerous command to device, which includes sending SMS, downloading files from any given URL, running shell command even in root privilege and installing package silently. As such, the user device may be at risk of being infected with more malware.

It also downloads a data.ini file containing sms texts to filter. When users receive an incoming SMS and contain keywords in data.ini, it mutes the device and blocks the new message notification. This malicious mechanism usually cause uninformed payment made.

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine:

9.700

TMMS Pattern File:

1.709.00

TMMS Pattern Date:

08 Apr 2014

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NOTES:
To clear this malware, users need to flash back to original phone image.


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