Ponsel Google, G1 Memiliki Bug yang Cukup Serius

Sebuah catatan peneliti keamanan hari ini memperingatkan pengguna T-Mobile's G1 bahwa ponsel pintar tersebut memiliki kerentanan dan bug yang serius di sistem operasinya, yang bernama Google Android. Celah tersebut memungkinkan ponsel tersebut di-hack oleh orang iseng atau hacker.

Dipimpin oleh Charlie Miller, peneliti yang telah menjadi pakar mendeteksi permasalahan dan bug di Mac OS X dan iPhone, sebuah tim dari "Independent Security Evaluators", bug tersebut berhasil diidentifikasi dan dilaporkan ke Google minggu lalu.

Miller, yang ditolak untuk memberikan penjelasan secara spesifik tentang bug yang ada, hanya berkata bahwa ada bug "buffer overflow" yang dapat dimanfaatkan oleh hacker untuk membodohi pengguna G1, dan secara langsung memancing pengguna untuk mengunjungi situs berbahaya. "Selain itu ada kesempatan bagi hacker untuk dapat dapat menjalankan kode berbahaya jauh, dengan hak akses yang sama dengan hak sebagai pengguna telepon browser," menurut Miller.

T-Mobile sendiri sudah memulai pengiriman yang G1 sebelum tanggal 22 Oktober. Ponsel generasi pertama ini didukung oleh Google dengan sistem operasi ponsel teranyarnya, Android. Pihak Google sendiri belum memberikan penjelasan mengenai hal ini, apakah benar atau nantinya akan ada 'patch' baru yang bisa memperbaiki bug ini.

A noted security researcher today warned users of T-Mobile's G1 smart phone that a critical vulnerability in Google's Inc.'s Android operating system could be used to hack their phones.

Led by Charlie Miller, a researcher who has rooted out high-profile bugs in Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X and iPhone, a team from Independent Security Evaluators identified the bug and reported it to Google last week. ISE, where Miller works, is a Baltimore-based security consultancy.

Miller, who declined to get specific about the vulnerability, said only that it is a buffer overflow bug that could be exploited by tricking G1 users into visiting malicious sites. "There's a chance that the attacker could execute malicious code remotely" by accessing the same privileges as the user of the phone's browser, Miller said.

T-Mobile started shipping the G1 shortly before the Oct. 22 launch date; the phone is the first powered by Google's open-source mobile phone operating system, Android.

Miller said that after alerting Google, a security researcher from its Android team contacted him to get more information and to ask that he withhold the information from the public until a patch was in place. Miller refused to wait but promised not to disclose any details or technical information that could be used by hackers.

"People should know that there's a problem with the G1 before they buy it," Miller said, defending his actions. "I don't want to help the bad guys either, but people should have all the information before they make a decision to buy [the phone]. I think I'm totally in the right here."
Google did not respond to a request for comment or to questions about the status of any patch for Android and the G1. Miller also said that he and others at ISE had crafted a working exploit but would not release it until a patch was in hand.

According to a more detailed warning on the ISE site, the flaw is within one of the more than 80 open-source packages used by Google to assemble Android. Miller blamed the bug on Google's use of outdated code. "This particular security vulnerability that affects the G1 phone was known and fixed in the relevant software package, but Google used an older, still vulnerable version," said the ISE alert. Miller declined to name the specific open-source package at fault.

Google has been caught in the same bind before. Because it used an older version of WebKit, the open-source rendering engine that also powers Apple Inc.'s Safari, for the foundation of its own Chrome Web browser, users were at risk from attacks based on a months-old flaw that had been dubbed the "carpet bomb" bug.