Posted on 08/11/2015 8:59:53 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Android biometric banks more Fort Nope than Fort Knox.
Four FireEye researchers have found a way to steal fingerprints from Android phones packing biometric sensors such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One Max.
The team found a forehead-slapping flaw in HTC One Max in which fingerprints are stored as an image file (dbgraw.bmp) in a open "world readable" folder.
"Any unprivileged processes or apps can steal user’s fingerprints by reading this file," the team says, adding that the images can be made into clear prints by adding some padding.
It is one of four vulnerability scenarios in which biometric data normally secure in an Android phone's TrustedZone can be pilfered.
One such scenario shows how attackers can have money transfers authenticated by throwing a fake lock screen prompting a victim to scan their fingerprints to unlock a device.
Yulong Zhang, Zhaofeng Chen, Hui Xue, Tao Wei say in the paper Fingerprints On Mobile Devices: Abusing and Leaking [PDF] presented at Black Hat in Las Vegas last week that most device manufacturers fail to use Android's Trust Zone protection to safeguard biometric data.
They say they are likely the first to reveal the threat.
"To make the situation even worse, each time the fingerprint sensor is used for auth operation, the auth framework will refresh that fingerprint bitmap to reflect the latest wiped finger," the team says.
"So the attacker can sit in the background and collect the fingerprint image of every swipe of the victim."
Even worse: kernel access permissions often only restrict to root privilege, not system, meaning modified or 'rooted' Android devices are at risk even if those protections are applied.
The team say attackers with some remote code execution exploits in hand can harvest these fingerprints en masse.
Attackers could in a probably less likely scenario add their fingerprints to a device which they have physical access to by uploading a print image. A disconnect between the number of authorised prints and actual authorised prints means the uploaded biometric could be seen as a "backdoor", the team says.
The researchers point out that this is a very serious mistake by citing research predicting that fingerprint scanners will exist in about half of all phones sold in 2019.
The risk could be considered real enough now however since cashed-up and therefore higher-value owners use high-end biometric phones today.
Users of biometrics-equipped phones will do well to upgrading to a supported and recent ROM, which given the telco and vendor patch bottleneck probably means moving older devices to custom operating systems like CynaogenMod. If that sounds a bit weird or scary, know that the community-coded Android variant claims more users than BlackBerry and Windows Phone combined.®
My dumb phone is blissfully unaware of my prints. I do butt dial every once in a while. They’re in for a rude awakening if they steal that.
HRC and TS documents in the clear.
Coincidence? I don't think so. 😈
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
So some unnamed government agency can harvest these and build a database of fingerprints to identify and track people. Plus, at least I would be surprised, turn on camera to snap a picture to go with it. Nice?
For your ping lists perhaps for heads up for users who use Android fingerprint scan security locks. . .
So... a built in back door has been compromised ?
I wondered about this crap back in the green-screen era. Unfortunately, my thoughts proved correct.
Yep good idea, thanks.
Samsung's vaunted Knox security kept their passwords in a clear text file in an external Library in an unencrypted section of the operating system that anyone could easily find. Now we find they are keeping the images of their "secure fingerprint" comparison scans in a similar insecure folder in a Library that anyone can find and that any app or non-privileged user can access. WOW! That's considered security? They did not even try to HASH them.
For our Windows fans using Android devices -- and thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
(Not even Kerry or Obama could be THAT stupid.)
Who was responsible for the design?
(Not even Kerry or Obama could be THAT stupid.)
Who was responsible for the design?
Let’s hear it for dumb phones. People are amazed that I have such an archaic device.
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