Samsung Android Browser is affected by a critical SOP bypass issue, a Metasploit exploit code is available

The browser app pre-installed on Android devices is affected by a critical flaw, tracked as CVE-2017-17692, that could be exploited by an attacker to steal data from browser tabs if the user visits an attacker-controlled site.

The SOP bypass issue in the Samsung Internet Browser was discovered by the security researcher Dhiraj Mishra.

The Same Origin Policy is one of the most important security mechanisms implemented in modern browsers, the basic idea behind the SOP is the javaScript from one origin should not be able to access the properties of a website on another origin.

A SOP bypass occurs when a sitea.com is somehow able to access the properties of siteb.com such as cookies, location, response etc.

An attacker can copy victim’s session cookie or hijack his session and read and write webmail on your behalf.

Mishra developed a Metasploit Module for the exploitation of the SOP bypass issue and reported the flaw to the MITRE to assign CVE.

Mishra also reported the flaw to Samsung, who acknowledged it and confirmed that “the patch is already preloaded in our upcoming model Galaxy Note 8, and the application will be updated via Apps store update in October.“

Here is the Source Code for Bypassing Same Origin Policy in Samsung Internet Browser in Metasploit,

“When the Samsung Internet browser opens a new tab in a given domain (say, google.com) through a Javascript action, that Javascript can come in after the fact and rewrite the contents of that page with whatever it wants,” reads a blog post published by researchers from security firm Rapid7.

“This is a no-no in browser design since it means that Javascript can violate the Same-Origin Policy, and can direct Javascript actions from one site (controlled by the attacker) to act in the context of another site (the one the attacker is interested in). Essentially, the attacker can insert custom Javascript into any domain, provided the victim user visits the attacker-controlled web page first.”

The experts from Rapid7 have also published a video PoC of the attack.

The availability online of the Metasploit exploit code pose a serious risk to Android users that are still using the old Android Stock browser.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – SOP bypass issue, Android)

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