Test if your Android device is affected by recent SOP vulnerability
Companies like Google or Microsoft have a hard time getting users to upgrade to the latest version of their operating systems. On Android for instance, a quarter is using Android version 4.4, the most recent version of the system.
It is not necessarily the fault of users that their systems are not upgraded as manufacturers may not provide updates to devices which leaves users standing in the rain and without official options to update their devices.
A security flaw recently discovered in Android Browser highlights why this is a problem. Android Browser has been the default web browser on Android devices. This changed in Android 4.2 when Chrome took over and while browsers were switched, Android Browser was still used for some functionality in the browser.
Google switched to Chromium in Android 4.4 which means that any Android user not on 4.4 may be exposed to the bug.
Here is what it does
When you visit a web page, you expect it to provide contents for the domain it is running on. A script running on the website should for instance not be able to modify contents on another site, but that is apparently what the flaw found in Android Browser does.
Same Origin Policy (SOP) is a security mechanism that has been designed to prevent JavaScript executed from one origin to access properties from another origin. JavaScript executed on badsite should not be able to retrieve data from goodsite.
What this means is that any site that you visit using Android Browser directly or when Android Browser is used by apps could potentially steal sensitive data. Properties such as cookies can be stolen by exploits
Test your device
To test if your device is vulnerable visit the following web page and click on the test button on it to find out if that is the case.
If you get a popup message, your browser is vulnerable. If you don't, it is not.
The Problem
While Google is working on a patch to fix the issue, delivering the patch to users is complicated. The main reason for that is that this type of update falls into the responsibility of the manufacturer of the device.
Considering that support ends usually after two years, it is unlikely that all devices out there that are vulnerable will be patched.
To make matters worse, switching to another browser like Firefox or Chrome on affected devices resolves only part of the problem. While that browser should be safe to use then, apps running on the device may still use the affected browser to render web contents which in turn means that the issue can still be exploited.
It is still recommended to switch browsers immediately to limit exposure to the issue on affected devices.
Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?