A vulnerability discovered inside the MediaTek chipsets can allow attackers to take over a victim’s device. The “zero-click” bug opens the door to Remote Code Execution (RCE) without user interaction.
Vulnerability in MediaTek Wi-Fi chipsets can compromise devices
Some of the most dangerous attacks on electronic devices need no action from the victims. These attacks can compromise the security of a device and take over control without the user needing to click or tap on anything. Such a vulnerability exists in MediaTek chipsets, particularly those that handle wireless communication. Several device makers embed MediaTek chipsets, which makes multiple electronics vulnerable.
SonicWall Capture Labs researchers who discovered the issue have alerted MediaTek. The chipmaker has tagged the vulnerability as CVE-2024-20017. The vulnerability’s severity rating is CVSS 9.8. Simply put, this bug is reportedly a nearly max-critical zero-click vulnerability.
Security researchers have indicated the vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write issue that resides in “wappd”. In simple words, a “network daemon”, which is an always-active service, can be targeted and compromised. Wappd is responsible for configuring and managing wireless interfaces and access points, indicated the researchers.
“The architecture of wappd is complex, comprising the network service itself, a set of local services that interact with the device’s wireless interfaces, and communication channels between components via Unix domain sockets.”
How to stay protected from the latest MediaTek security exploit?
The vulnerability impacts MediaTek SDK versions 7.4.0.1, and earlier. Attackers can also target devices that run older versions of OpenWrt, a custom router firmware, and even couple it with other recently discovered vulnerabilities.
End-users with MediaTek Wi-Fi chipsets can tweak their Wi-Fi settings to mitigate the risks. Smartphone users should avoid public Wi-Fi hotpots as the backend networking hardware could be vulnerable.
Attackers could also target smartphones with the latest MediaTek chipsets as a public proof-of-concept exploit (PoC) recently became available. Hence, it is wise to stay connected to reliable Wi-Fi routers. When outside, switch to “Airplane” mode when in public places or use mobile data. Additionally, users must keep their devices updated.
