HTC user data exposed to web apps

Mobile phone manufacturer HTC is investigating a reported vulnerability that gives any internet-connected app access to users' personal information.

The flaw, affecting several of its Android smartphone models, was discovered and reported by researcher Trevor Eckhart on 24 September.

Eckhart published the vulnerability after he received no response for five days, the AndroidPolice blog reported.

The bug stems from a recently added program, HTCLoggers.apk, which logs large amounts of information from the phones, according to Eckhart.

The program enables any app that requests permission to connect to the web to easily access data that has been logged.

This information includes user accounts, email addresses, GPS locations, SMS data, phone numbers and system logs.

The flaw affects HTC Android phones, including the EVO 3D, EVO 4G and Thunderbolt, among others, Eckhart said.

HTCLoggers allows any application with internet access to bypass access permissions for information including GPS location data and system log. Applications could connect to the internet and obtain the information it had gathered.

HTC said it would issue a software fix.

“HTC takes our customers' security very seriously, and we are working to investigate this claim as quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement.

"We will provide an update as soon as we're able to determine the accuracy of the claim and what steps, if any, need to be taken.”

Eckhart created a proof-of-concept application that can be run on vulnerable phones to demonstrate the bug.

He also created a YouTube video to show how the flaw could be exploited on a stock EVO 3D.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com