The bug that makes GCam record you without you knowing

GCam is undoubtedly one of the best applications created by Google throughout its history. There are millions of users who wait for patients Google Pixel camera port for your mobiles in order to take full advantage of features like Night Shight. However, it is not as safe as we wish it were.

It has been Google itself who has disclosed a vulnerability in Android, which made it possible for hackers to access control of the company's camera by taking advantage of a software bug and, secretly, capture photos and record images even when the phone is locked or screen was off. The bug, discovered by researchers from Checkmarx, has its origin in the permissions requested by the GCam application and affected Google's own Pixels as well as units from other manufacturers such as Samsung.

Hijacking your phone

As can be seen in the video that we host on these lines, an attacker with the necessary knowledge can control the application to take photos and videos remotely through a hack application that does not have permissions to do so. In other words, when an app wants to access our camera, we must grant it permissions to do so, but this time this app does not need the permission to use the Google camera to access its control.

But if this in itself is serious enough, it is even more so to know that apart from the GCAM, cybercriminals have been able to exploit other Android flaws to gain immediate access to our photos and videos in order not only to expose our privacy, but also to analyze your information to locate us on the map.

It was found that certain attack scenarios allow criminals to access different storage permission policies, bypassing them to gain access to stored videos and photos, as well as GPS metadata embedded in photos, to locate the user by analyzing the data. EXIF of a certain file.

Following the notice from the security company, the issue was addressed a few months ago by Google to alleviate third-party access to your app remotely. The google camera was updated through the Android app store last July to remove this app bug GCam and keep the privacy of users safe.