Verify discovered an Android package, “Showcase.apk,” with excessive system privileges, including remote code execution and remote package installation capabilities, on a very large percentage of Pixel devices shipped worldwide since September 2017
The application downloads a configuration file over an unsecure connection and can be manipulated to execute code at the system level
The application retrieves the configuration file from a single US-based, AWS-hosted domain over unsecured HTTP, which leaves the configuration vulnerable and can makes the device vulnerable
Cybercriminals can use vulnerabilities in the app’s infrastructure to execute code or shell commands with system privileges on Android devices to take over devices to perpetrate cybercrime and breaches
Removal of the app is not possible through a user’s standard uninstallation process, and at this time, Google has not offered a patch for the vulnerability
It appears that Showcase.apk is preinstalled in Pixel firmware and included in Google’s OTA image for Pixel devices
Now imagine this happend to a Chinese phone from any manufacturer, may it be Xiaomi, Oneplus or whatever - could you imagine the outcry?
update from GrapheneOS devs explaining that the exploit isn’t as bad as it initially looks https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/112967309987371034
My whole point was about the double standard applied to US and Chinese tech. You were specifically asking what the outcry would be over, and you yourself admit that there would indeed be outcry in the west if it was a Chinese company. The fact that you don’t get the political angle here is entirely a you problem.