Mobile Threat Catalogue

Sensitive Information Exposure

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Threat Category: Vulnerable Applications

ID: APP-2

Threat Description: Mobile OS APIs allow apps to share data with other apps, either by exposing specific services to other apps (e.g. Android intents) or by storing it to locations accessible to other apps. Sensitive information stored in commonly-accessible files/locations (e.g. OS-managed contacts list) or openly accessible through intents may be read or potentially modified by apps untrusted by the developer, which may lead to a loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of that data.

Threat Origin

Not Applicable, See Exploit or CVE Examples

Exploit Examples

Vulnerability in Skype for Android 1

World Writable Code Is Bad, MMMMKAY 2

LOOK-11-001 something 3

CVE Examples

Possible Countermeasures

Enterprise

Use app-vetting tools or services to identify insecure storage of sensitive data.

Consider the use of devices that support Android 7.0 and later, which enables app-level encryption in addition to block-level encryption.

Mobile Device User

Consider the use of devices that support Android 7.0 and later, which enables app-level encryption in addition to block-level encryption.

References

  1. J. Case, “Exclusive: Vulnerability In Skype For Android Is Exposing Your Name, Phone Number, Chat Logs, And A Lot More”, blog, 14 Apr. 2011; www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/14/exclusive-vulnerability-in-skype-for-android-is-exposing-your-name-phone-number-chat-logs-and-a-lot-more/# [accessed 8/25/2016] 

  2. J. V. Dyke, “World Writable Code Is Bad, MMMMKAY”, blog, 10 Aug. 2015; www.nowsecure.com/blog/2015/08/10/world-writable-code-is-bad-mmmmkay/ [accessed 8/25/2016] 

  3. “[Vulnerability Identifier]: LOOK-11-001, blog, 1 Feb. 2011; https://blog.lookout.com/look-11-001/ [accessed 8/25/2016]”