ShareIt vulnerabilities could leave users open to remote attacks
Recognition: Andy Walker / Android Authority
- Popular ShareIt app was found to reveal several vulnerabilities.
- These vulnerabilities can be used by malicious actors to carry out remote attacks.
Popular Android file sharing app ShareIt has several security vulnerabilities that can lead to misuse of a user’s data. This emerges from the results of the security company TrendMicro, which were recently published in a report.
The detailed vulnerabilities could theoretically give a remote attacker the ability to use ShareIt permissions to access and manipulate data on a user’s device.
The security firm shows that attackers can use ShareIt’s trusted features to execute malicious commands or install third-party apps. The vulnerabilities could also allow an attacker to substitute the resources of other apps on a user’s device, seemingly swapping a legitimate app for a fake replacement.
Load surveyShareIt vulnerabilities, patches and alternatives
TrendMicro made the developer of ShareIt aware of the problems three months ago, but no patch has been released yet. The company also made Google aware of the issues. We reached out to the developers of the app and will update this article if we get a response.
ShareIt is one of the most popular apps on the Google Play Store. The app has been downloaded over a billion times and allows users to transfer files and links and share them with others. ShareIt was also among the 60 apps developed in China that were banned in India late last year.
According to the Play Store list, the app was last updated on February 9th, but no patch for the disclosed vulnerabilities is mentioned in the update’s changelog. The app is still available for download at the time of writing.
For now, it’s probably a good idea to protect yourself from using ShareIt until the bugs are fixed. Until then, there are a variety of alternatives. If you need to transfer files to other Android devices, Nearby Share is a great built-in alternative. Google files provide similar functionality. There are also a number of handy apps that you can use to transfer files to your PC if you need to.
