Android-rooting malware on Google playstore

A new Android-rooting malware with an ability to disable device’ security settings in an effort to perform malicious tasks in the background has been detected on the official Play Store.

Behind puzzle game "colourblock," which was being downloaded at least 50,000 times prior to its removal.


"To bypass Google Play Store security checks, the malware creators used a very interesting method: they uploaded a clean app to the store at the end of March, 2017, and would then update it with a malicious version for short period of time," the researchers said. 


Dvmap Trojan works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Android, which once installed, attempts to gain root access on the device and tries to install several modules on the system including a few written in Chinese, along with a malicious app called "com.qualcmm.timeservices."

To make sure the malicious module gets executed with system rights, the malware overwrites system's runtime libraries depending on which Android version the device is running.To complete the installation of the above-mentioned malicious app, the Trojan with system rights turns off "Verify Apps," feature and modify system setting to allow app installation from 3rd party app stores.

"Furthermore, it can grant the "com.qualcmm.timeservices" app Device Administrator rights without any interaction with the user, just by running commands. It is a very unusual way to get Device Administrator rights," the researchers said.

What to do to protect yourself?

Always keep a good antivirus app on your device that can detect and block such malware before it can infect your device and keep it up-to-date.