China-based semiconductor firm Unisoc has recently come to prominence with multiple major manufacturers using its SoCs in their budget range devices. Now, Check Point Research has revealed that the Unisoc smartphone chips have a critical security vulnerability.

According to the firm, The issue exists in the modem firmware and affects 4G and 5G Unisoc chipsets. The issue, tracked as CVE-2022-20210, was discovered while scanning Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message handlers. This vulnerability could be exploited to neutralize or block the cellular communication capabilities of the device.

Slava Makkaveev,  Reverse Engineering and Security Research attorney at Check Point Software said “An attacker could have used a radio station to send a malformed packet that would reset the modem, depriving the user of the possibility of communication. Left unpatched, cellular communication can be blocked by an attacker.”

The vulnerability was detected on a Motorola Moto G20 running the Unisoc T700 chipset and Android January 2022 security patch. The vulnerability, however, exists on other devices using Unisoc chipsets too. Check Point Research disclosed its findings to Unisoc in May. The China-based chipmaker acknowledged the vulnerability upon the receipt of disclosure and issued a patch.

Makkaveev also stated that “There is nothing for Android users to do right now, though we strongly recommend applying a patch that will be released by Google in their upcoming Android Security Bulletin.” So, it is advisable to update your Unisoc SoC smartphones to the latest software version when the next patch arrives.

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The post Smartphones with Unisoc SoCs have a critical vulnerability, fix in works appeared first on Gizmochina.

A mobile security solutions firm Kryptowire has identified some serious security and privacy vulnerabilities in smartphones powered by UNISOC SC9863A chips and has alerted owners of such smartphones as such. Kryptowire says that the specified UNISOC SoC has a flaw that could be exploited by hackers to get access to user data and functionality of the mobile device.

The UNISOC SC986 3A chipset is quite prevalent in several of the budget brands including Nokia and it is unclear how this reported flaw will affect the standing of the chipmaker. Some of the stated consequences of the vulnerabilities include gaining access to call records, text messages, contacts, video records, and other privacy data that could hurt the user when hackers put such to use. It is even possible to remotely use the device’s rear camera or remotely operate the device.

As per the details put out by Kryptowire, it is said that the firm had reported the issue to UNISOC since December 2021, but we are yet to get any update from the company on the issue. Device manufacturers and mobile carrier networks have also been notified of the security vulnerability of the UNISOC SC9863A chipset. We expect to see upgrades rolled out by different OEMs sporting the budget UNISOC chipset to take care of the highlighted vulnerabilities. This would be in collaboration with the chipmaker, UNISOC.

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(source)

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