TL;DR
- Bitdefender researchers discovered an Android vulnerability that can trigger an endless crash loop simply by installing a specially crafted APK, potentially leaving devices unusable.
- The flaw exploits how Android handles ZIP compression methods, repeatedly crashing the core system_server process. Recovering may require a factory reset or manually deleting the malicious file using ADB.
- No in-the-wild exploitation has been identified, but the public disclosure could make it easier for threat actors to develop an exploit.
Even though Android is a relatively safe operating system, with several security measures in place, threat actors’ ingenuity still keeps finding ways to exploit weaknesses. We recently shared information about malware that can empty your bank accounts in secret, and now, researchers have found a separate Android flaw that could leave your phone outright unusable.
Normally, malicious apps need to request permissions and execute code to attack your device. However, researchers at Bitdefender have discovered a new vulnerability dubbed GhostMap that triggers a crash loop simply by installing a specially crafted app.
