

Android crypto key theft vulnerability affects 86% of devices - Titanbase
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/06/serious-android-crypto-key-theft-vulnerability-affects-86-of-devices/

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userbinator
One of the first comments there with the partial ARM opcode map shows why this
vulnerability is "theoretical" \- you can overflow the buffer, but the bytes
written to the buffer are restricted so much (values will always be between 43
and 126) that it would be nearly impossible to write useful exploit code.

The details are here:

[http://securityintelligence.com/android-keystore-stack-
buffe...](http://securityintelligence.com/android-keystore-stack-buffer-
overflow-to-keep-things-simple-buffers-are-always-larger-than-needed/)

~~~
nutate
" _nearly_ impossible to write useful exploit code" sounds like a worthy
challenge to some people I know.

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MBCook
The sad thing is how many of these devices, despite being only a year or two
old, may only get patched much later or never.

I find it interesting that Google is forcing the ability to update [1] Android
watches, cars, and TV boxes by limiting OEM customization. I guess the carrot
approach hasn't been working well enough to convince OEMs.

[1] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/android-wear-auto-
and...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/android-wear-auto-and-tv-save-
you-from-skins-and-oems-from-themselves/)

~~~
andrewfong
Especially glad they're forcing the issue with cars. Imagine if a bug or
security vulnerability in Maps led to an accident ("Now turn left NO TURN
RIGHT TURN RIGHT NOW").

Functionally, since Google Auto probably doesn't touch the car's own computer
system, it's probably no worse than a vulnerability in your phone. But the PR
from "Google Auto bug causes accident" sounds so much more terrible than
"smartphone bug causes accident".

~~~
lloeki
Android Auto in cars is just a dumb screencast, like iOS CarPlay.

~~~
voltagex_
I hope they do it in a standards-based way this time.

I'm about to return a Sony head-unit that only supports Samsung and Xperia
phones via a hellish mix of USB tethering, VNC and uPNP.

I know that car audio isn't normally modified now that manufacturers have gone
away from the 1 and 2 DIN formats, but if anyone else is reading this, _stay
away_ from the MirrorLink/DriveLink technology. AppRadio is the other
competitor and the XDA guys have had more luck in unlocking it for all phones
to use.

Hopefully Android Auto supersedes the whole mess.

