WiFi firmware bug affects laptops, smartphones, routers, gaming devices

Discovered by Embedi researcher Denis Selianin, the vulnerability impacts the firmware of Marvell Avastar 88W8897, one of the most popular WiFi chipsets on the market, currently deployed with devices such as Sony PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Surface laptops, Samsung Chromebooks, Samsung Galaxy J1 smartphones, and Valve SteamLink cast devices, just to name a few. In a report published today, Selianin described how someone could exploit the Avastar firmware (based on a custom implementation of the ThreadX real-time operating system) to execute malicious code without any user interaction. Furthermore, the researcher says he also identified two methods of exploiting this technique, one that is specific to Marvell’s own implementation running on top of the ThreadX firmware, and one that is generic and could be applied to other devices using firmware based on the ThreadX RTOS.

Source: www.zdnet.com