Signal fixes FaceTime-like eavesdropping bug

guest · Oct 4, 2019

Signal fixes FaceTime-like eavesdropping bug
Signal bug lets attackers place and then auto-answer a call by pressing the Mute button
October 4, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/signal-fixes-facetime-like-eavesdropping-bug/

Signal fixed today a bug that could have allowed attackers to eavesdrop on victims by placing and then immediately auto-answering a call, without the callee's permission.
The bug is reminiscent of Apple's FaceTime bug discovered in January, which similarly allowed attackers to eavesdrop on other iPhone users by placing and auto-approving a FaceTime audio or video call.

Only the Signal app on Android is impacted.

"The iOS client has a similar logical problem, but the call is not completed due to an error in the UI caused by the unexpected sequence of states," said Natalie Silvanovich, a security researcher with Google's Project Zero team, and the one who uncovered the issue.
The bug ocurrs in the "ringing" stage of a call. Attackers can press the Mute button very quickly and avoid a long ring that may alert victims.

Silvanovich said the bug was fixed today. Signal for Android version 4.48.13 was released earlier on GitHub, but this release doesn't appear to have reached the Google Play Store, where the last update dates back to September 28, 2019.
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guest · Oct 7, 2019

Securityweek:

In a separate bug report, Silvanovich revealed that Signal processes Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packets before a video call is answered, which makes it possible for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities in WebRTC’s processing of RTP packets without user interaction.
WebRTC is a free and open-source project that provides real-time communication capabilities to mobile applications via simple APIs.

According to the researcher, Signal developers described this issue as a “design trade-off” that they do not plan on addressing in the near future. However, Marlinspike says he is open to recommendations for improving security in Signal’s implementation of WebRTC.
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