How Threat Actors Abuse OEM Permissions for Privilege Escalation

Threat actors are increasingly exploiting legitimate channels to achieve privilege escalation, posing a severe risk to millions of devices worldwide.

While conventional exploits remain a concern, a more insidious danger emerges from applications gaining excessive system access through mechanisms such as sideloading and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) permissions.

These permissions, often embedded by device manufacturers for proprietary functionalities, bypass Android’s standard security model, creating vulnerabilities that are difficult to detect using traditional methods.

Unveiling a Hidden Threat in Android Security

A seemingly benign utility app, for instance, might request permissions for system settings modifications, network access, and storage control.

Individually, these requests appear legitimate, but in combination, they can grant attackers devastating control over a device, often without raising red flags in standard security scans.

According to Zimperium Report, the sophistication of these attacks lies in their exploitation of trusted pathways.

OEM permissions, intended for system-level operations, can be abused when malicious apps impersonate legitimate system applications or when compromised apps inherit elevated privileges.

Such permissions might allow attackers to modify security policies, access hardware features, override user privacy settings, or bypass Android’s inherent restrictions.

Moreover, sideloaded apps those installed outside the Google Play Store often evade scrutiny, while pre-installed applications from OEMs come with inherent privileges that make them prime targets for exploitation.

From Legitimate Access to Malicious Exploitation

A striking example is the abuse of Android’s Accessibility API, a powerful tool designed for users with disabilities that enables apps to read screen content and automate inputs.

Malicious actors leverage this API to intercept sensitive data, automate unauthorized actions, and inject deceptive UI elements, often bypassing Google’s tightened restrictions on sideloaded apps in Android 13 through-session based installation methods.

Even on the Play Store, malware like droppers has been observed using versioning tactics uploading clean apps initially, then introducing malicious updates to exploit accessibility services for nefarious purposes.

Equally concerning are cleaner apps and pre-installed software that wield high-level permissions under the guise of functionality.

These apps, sometimes downloaded millions of times, can dynamically load malicious code from command-and-control servers, enabling actions like credential theft through banking app overlays or intercepting multi-factor authentication codes via SMS.

Pre-installed apps, which cannot be uninstalled, present an even graver threat due to their elevated access and susceptibility to vulnerabilities like intent redirection, as seen in a widely used OEM security app affecting hundreds of millions of devices.

Such flaws allow attackers to access private data without user interaction, compromising confidentiality on a massive scale.

To combat this, organizations must adopt robust app vetting processes that scrutinize both static and dynamic permissions, analyzing app behavior to prevent privilege accumulation.

As Android ecosystems grow with third-party stores and sideloading practices, the need for comprehensive security measures becomes paramount to safeguard users from these covert yet catastrophic threats.

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