875 Million Android Phones Face Risk Due to Hidden Chip Flaw

Researchers at Ledger’s Donjon Hacker Lab disclosed a chip-level flaw in MediaTek’s secure boot chain that can allow an attacker with physical access to extract full-disk encryption keys and decrypt a locked Android phone in as little as 60 seconds; the issue may affect roughly one in four Android devices (up to ~875 million phones). MediaTek issued a patch in January, but slower manufacturer update rollouts — especially on lower-cost handsets — mean many devices could remain unprotected until vendors deliver the update.