A new variant of the Android Remote Access Tool (AndroRAT) is exploiting a vulnerability to escalate privileges on unpatched Android devices.
The malware disguises itself as a utility app called “TrashCleaner” and waits for users to download it from a malicious URL. Upon running for the first time, the malicious app forces the device to install what looks to be a Chinese-labeled calculator app. In the meantime, TrashCleaner’s icon disappears and AndroRAT abuses CVE-2015-1805, a denial-of-service (DoS) and privilege escalation vulnerability.
Trend Micro’s Mobile Threat Response Team explains how the threat interacts with this security flaw:
The configurable RAT service is controlled by a remote server, which could mean that commands may be issued to trigger different actions. The variant activates the embedded root exploit when executing privileged actions.At that point, the new iteration can perform all the functions of the original AndroRAT, which include recording...(continued)
