If you have a mobile with a MediaTek processor, we have bad news for you. Also a good one that leaves the bad one in a little fright. The company Check Point has found a vulnerability in MediaTek processors that allows spying on a device with a simple malicious application. A vulnerability is an open door in the security of the processor that allows, through a virus, access to certain parts that should not be available. This is quite dangerous if used with malicious intent.
Mobile phones with a MediaTek chip in danger of being spied on
It seems that MediaTek has left a small door open in the audio processor of their processors. The DSP is in charge of managing everything that has to do with audio and is part of the processor. It is in this part that the vulnerability has been found.
This DSP of MediaTek chips has an open door that can be accessed with a simple malicious application. If this application is installed on your mobile, the user who has developed it has the opportunity to activate permissions that he should not be able to activate.
This makes it able to activate certain parts of the system to spy on the user, find compromised data or other details. It is something quite dangerous, although, luckily, there is no real case in which this vulnerability has been used to spy on users. That is, it has been found, but no one with bad intentions may have noticed it before.
You already have a solution and it will come through an update
MediaTek is already aware of this problem and appears to have fixed it. The security patch that the company will ship in December will correct this problem and close the door open. Of course, it will be the manufacturers who have to optimize the update and integrate it into an OTA for each device.
If you have a smartphone with a MediaTek processor you currently have this vulnerability , but your company may fix it soon with an update.
