Payment system problems have been found in Xiaomi smartphones, according to security analysts

With the help of a malicious Android app that has been installed on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T and Redmi Note 11 models, security flaws might be used to disable the mobile payment system and even create fake transactions. Check Point asserted to have found flaws in devices using MediaTek chipsets while examining the security of the “Kinibi” Trusted Execution Environment utilized by the Chinese phone manufacturer (TEE).

A TEE is a secure enclave that can be located inside the main processor and is used to process and store sensitive information, such as cryptographic keys while protecting the confidentiality and integrity of the information. A trusted software on a Xiaomi smartphone can be degraded since there is no version control, allowing an attacker to replace a more recent, secure version with an earlier, more vulnerable version, according to research by an Israeli cybersecurity firm.

Several flaws have also been discovered in the security-managing trusted app “the admin,” which might be used by a malicious app to leak stored keys or execute arbitrary code while the app is running.

Tencent Soter, a “biometric standard” used as an embedded mobile payment framework to authorize transactions on third-party apps using WeChat and Alipay, is the subject of the issues. Xiaomi developed the reputable app Tencent Soter to carry out the cryptographic processes necessary for this service. However, the soter trustworthy app had a heap overflow bug that allowed an Android app without the required access to directly interact with the TEE to trigger a denial-of-service attack.

And not just that, by using the aforementioned downgrade approach to downgrade the soter trustworthy app to an earlier version that contained an arbitrary read vulnerability, Check Point determined that it was possible to obtain the private keys required to sign payment bundles.