RAMpage, the vulnerability that affects all Android devices launched since 2012

A group of computer security researchers has discovered a new vulnerability affecting all Android devices launched since 2012. His name is RAMpage, and it is a variant of Rowhammer's attack. .

explained above, Rowhammer is a hardware error present in memory cards today. Specifically, when someone sends repeated read and write requests to the same memory cells, the read and write operations create an electric field that modifies the data stored in the neighboring memory.

Rowhammer's first attack was called DRammer and managed to modify the data on Android devices and root smartphones with this operating system, however, the researchers who revealed today at RAMpage, have extended this initial work.

The research report, conducted by eight academics from three universities and two private companies, reveals that RAMpage breaks the basic isolation between applications and the operating system.

In this sense, although these applications do not have permission to read data from other applications, malicious software could create a RAMpage exploit to take control of the program. administrator and steal the data stored on the device. Data that could be compromised include saved passwords, photos, WhatsApp messages, emails and even documents.

Researchers believe that RAMpage can also affect Apple devices, desktops and even computers. servers in the cloud. In order to contribute to user safety, experts claim that they have updated an application that they previously used to detect DRammer, in order to identify if devices are vulnerable to RAMpage. You can get it by clicking here

The difference between the DRammer attack and RAMpage is that the latter is directed to a subsystem of the Android system memory called ION, which manages the allocations of memory between applications and for the operating system. This subsystem came with Android 4.0, launched in 2011.

Then, by attacking ION with Rowhammer, RAMpage opens the possibility for a hacker to break security between Android apps and the operating system under -jacent, giving it total mobile or tablet control and your data.

Finally, researchers have launched a tool called GuardION, which allows users to protect themselves against RAMpage. It is currently available on GitHub and you can download it by clicking on the following link: