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Czech cybersecurity firm Avast confirmed that its antivirus SDK has been flagging a Google Android app as malware on Huawei, Vivo, and Honor smartphones since Saturday.
On affected gadgets, customers have been warned to right away uninstall the Google app as a result of it might secretly ship SMS messages, obtain and set up different apps, or steal their delicate data.
Others noticed a special alert, telling them that the Google app was a trojan that would present distant entry to their machine and permit attackers to put in malware and steal the customers’ information.
The false constructive difficulty was reported by customers on Google’s assist discussion board (Vivo submit), on Reddit (Vivo thread), on Huawei’s discussion board, and numerous different Android communities.
“This safety notification was not triggered by Google Play Protect and seems to be from a tool that isn’t Play Protect licensed and doesn’t have entry to formally obtain Google’s core apps from Play,” a Google spokesperson instructed BleepingComputer.
“We suggest contacting the machine producer for additional data. Google Play is the one app retailer the place you possibly can formally obtain Google’s core apps for Android.”
BleepingComputer additionally reached out to Huawei and Vivo, however we’re but to obtain a response from the Chinese smartphone makers.
Avast antivirus SDK behind false constructive
While Google could not pinpoint the safety service or app that was triggering the false constructive, Avast confirmed on Tuesday that its Android antivirus SDK was the one which mistakenly tagged the Google Quick Search Box app launcher as malware.
Avast mentioned Huawei’s Optimizer app confirmed the malware alerts on Huawei gadgets however did not present any particulars concerning affected Honor and Vivo gadgets.
“On October twenty ninth, it was reported to Avast that its antivirus Software Development Kit (SDK) for Android was incorrectly flagging the Google Quick Search Box as malware on Huawei telephones,” the corporate mentioned.
“This SDK delivers the antivirus part of Huawei’s Optimizer app, a tool administration software that additionally gives clean-up and efficiency options.”
The cybersecurity agency added that the difficulty solely affected customers outdoors China and was addressed on Monday, October 30.
“The difficulty affected Huawei clients outdoors of China solely, and a small variety of Honor and Vivo clients. A repair was applied on October thirtieth which absolutely resolved the difficulty,” Avast mentioned.