CVE-2013-4764 in Galaxy S3
Summary
by MITRE
Samsung Galaxy S3/S4 exposes an unprotected component allowing an unprivileged app to send arbitrary SMS texts to arbitrary destinations without permission.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-4764 represents a critical security flaw in Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 devices that stems from improper component protection mechanisms within the Android operating system implementation. This weakness allows any unprivileged application to exploit a vulnerable broadcast receiver component that is designed to handle SMS-related operations but lacks proper authentication and authorization checks. The flaw resides in the telephony subsystem where the system fails to verify the calling application's permissions before executing SMS transmission commands, creating an attack surface that bypasses the standard Android permission model.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a broadcast receiver component that listens for specific intent actions related to SMS messaging but does not validate the originating application's credentials or permissions. When an unprivileged app sends an intent to this unprotected component, the system processes the request without requiring the SEND_SMS permission that would normally be required for such operations. This architectural oversight enables malicious applications to send SMS messages to any phone number without user consent or knowledge, effectively creating a backdoor for unauthorized messaging capabilities. The vulnerability specifically affects the Android framework's handling of telephony intents and demonstrates a failure in the principle of least privilege enforcement.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-4764 extends beyond simple unauthorized messaging capabilities and represents a significant threat to user privacy and device security. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to send premium rate SMS messages to costly phone numbers, potentially leading to financial losses for victims. The vulnerability also enables spam campaigns, social engineering attacks, and can be used to exfiltrate information through SMS-based data transmission. Additionally, this flaw can be combined with other vulnerabilities to create more sophisticated attack chains, potentially allowing for further privilege escalation or persistent access to the device. The vulnerability affects millions of devices and demonstrates the critical importance of proper component security in mobile operating systems.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require both immediate and long-term approaches to address the underlying security flaws. Samsung and other Android device manufacturers should implement proper component protection mechanisms that enforce strict authentication checks before allowing SMS operations to proceed. The Android framework needs to be updated to ensure that all broadcast receivers handling sensitive operations require appropriate permissions and verify the calling application's credentials. Security researchers and organizations should conduct comprehensive security audits of all broadcast receivers and system components to identify similar unprotected elements. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and maps to attack techniques in the ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation and command and control categories. Users should be advised to avoid installing untrusted applications and to keep their devices updated with the latest security patches, while security professionals should monitor for exploitation attempts and implement proper network-based detection mechanisms to identify unauthorized SMS transmission activities.