The favored open-source SmartTube YouTube consumer for Android TV was compromised after an attacker gained entry to the developer’s signing keys, resulting in a malicious replace being pushed to customers.
The compromise grew to become identified when a number of customers reported that Play Shield, Android’s built-in antivirus module, blocked SmartTube on their gadgets and warned them of a threat.
The developer of SmartTube, Yuriy Yuliskov, admitted that his digital keys had been compromised late final week, resulting in the injection of malware into the app.
Yuliskov revoked the outdated signature and stated he would quickly publish a brand new model with a separate app ID, urging customers to maneuver to that one as a substitute.
SmartTube is likely one of the most generally downloaded third-party YouTube purchasers for Android TVs, Fireplace TV sticks, Android TV bins, and related gadgets.
Its recognition stems from the truth that it’s free, can block adverts, and performs nicely on underpowered gadgets.
A person who reverse-engineered the compromised SmartTube model quantity 30.51 discovered that it features a hidden native library named libalphasdk.so [VirusTotal]. This library doesn’t exist within the public supply code, so it’s being injected into launch builds.
“Presumably a malware. This file just isn’t a part of my venture or any SDK I take advantage of. Its presence within the APK is surprising and suspicious. I like to recommend warning till its origin is verified,” cautioned Yuliskov on a GitHub thread.
The library runs silently within the background with out person interplay, fingerprints the host system, registers it with a distant backend, and periodically sends metrics and retrieves configuration by way of an encrypted communications channel.
All this occurs with none seen indication to the person. Whereas there is no proof of malicious exercise similar to account theft or participation in DDoS botnets, the chance of enabling such actions at any time is excessive.
Though the developer introduced on Telegram the discharge of protected beta and secure take a look at builds, they haven’t reached the venture’s official GitHub repository but.
Additionally, the developer has not offered full particulars of what precisely occurred, which has created belief points locally.
Yuliskov promised to deal with all issues as soon as the ultimate launch of the brand new app is pushed to the F-Droid retailer.
Till the developer transparently discloses all factors publicly in an in depth autopsy, customers are beneficial to remain on older, known-to-be-safe builds, keep away from logging in with premium accounts, and switch off auto-updates.
Impacted customers are additionally beneficial to reset their Google Account passwords, examine their account console for unauthorized entry, and take away companies they do not acknowledge.
Right now, it’s unclear precisely when the compromise occurred or which variations of SmartTube are protected to make use of. One person reported that Play Shield does not flag model 30.19, so it seems protected.
BleepingComputer has contacted Yuliskov to find out which variations of the SmartTube app had been compromised, however a remark hasn’t been obtainable but.
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