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New Texting Flaw Allows Android Phones To Be Hacked Into

New Texting Flaw Allows Android Phones To Be Hacked Into
A promoter display one of the latest smart phones from ZTE, the Blade L2, using the OS Android 4.4 KitKat platform, during its launch in Singapore on August 13, 2014. The Chinese telecoms giant is among a growing number of Asian brands that are challenging the dominance of Apple and Samsung with high-spec low-price phones. AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN (Photo credit should read ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
ROSLAN RAHMAN via Getty Images
A promoter display one of the latest smart phones from ZTE, the Blade L2, using the OS Android 4.4 KitKat platform, during its launch in Singapore on August 13, 2014. The Chinese telecoms giant is among a growing number of Asian brands that are challenging the dominance of Apple and Samsung with high-spec low-price phones. AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN (Photo credit should read ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Zimperium Mobile Security researchers have announced the discovery of a new weakness in Android that allows attackers to take control by using the multimedia messaging system.

According to the Verge, the vulnerability called 'Stagefright' affects roughly 950 million Android devices worldwide, according to researcher estimates. But the most vulnerable devices are those running pre-Jelly Bean versions of Android.

Google has released a patch for the vulnerability to manufacturers, but most have not yet pressed that update to customers.

Zimperium has not released all the details of the attack, but it appears to target how Android processes video, specifically in the phone's MMS messaging capability.

Hackers might take advantage of that vulnerability sending out malicious code hidden as a video message. Once it takes hold, an attacker would gain the power to execute code remotely, compromising the phone's microphone, cameras or any number of other core functions. Also in some cases, a user would not even have to interact with the message in order for the code to execute.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.