Symantec: Some Android Apps Could Potentially Exploit Other Apps

Think that your smartphone is safe from the threats of the internet? Well, truth be told, nothing is safe out in the world wide web and recently, the Symantec research team has uncovered how some Android applications could potentially exploit other installed applications to steal private information or even to execute malicious code.

This is not exactly Google Android's fault exactly, but more towards the applications and the recent find was something that resembles Windows DLL Hijacking. The team found a few applications in the Google Android Marketplace that were vulnerable to this attack but don't worry too much; they have already notified the application developers accordingly.

Android provides APIs that allow an application to dynamically load code to be executed. For example, an application may support plug-ins that are downloaded and then loaded at a later time. Unfortunately, if these plug-ins are stored in an insecure location, this process can be hijacked, allowing access to private data and unexpected arbitrary code execution by malicious applications.

If you're a developer, do visit Symantec's blog for a more detailed explanation of how the attack is done so you can develop safer applications. Symantec has already contacted Google about these issues.
source: 2DayBlog.com