Researchers from Kaspersky discovered a new version of the Mandrake Android<\/a> spyware in five app on Google Play, totaling over 32,000 downloads between 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In April 2024, we found a suspicious sample that turned out to be a new version of Mandrake. The main distinguishing feature of the new Mandrake variant was layers of obfuscation designed to bypass Google Play checks and hamper analysis. We discovered five applications containing Mandrake, with more than 32,000 total downloads.” reads the report<\/strong><\/a> published by Kaspersky. “All these were published on Google Play in 2022 and remained available for at least a year. The newest app was last updated on March 15, 2024 and removed from Google Play later that month. As at July 2024, none of the apps had been detected as malware by any vendor, according to VirusTotal.”<\/em>
Below is the list of malware-laced apps discovered on Google Play:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Package name<\/strong><\/td> | App name<\/strong><\/td> | MD5<\/strong><\/td> | Developer<\/strong><\/td> | Released<\/strong><\/td> | Last updated on Google Play<\/strong><\/td> | Downloads<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> |
com.airft.ftrnsfr<\/td> | AirFS<\/td> | 33fdfbb1acdc226eb177eb42f3d22db4<\/a><\/td> | it9042<\/td> | Apr 28, 2022<\/td> | Mar 15, 2024<\/td> | 30,305<\/td><\/tr> |
com.astro.dscvr<\/td> | Astro Explorer<\/td> | 31ae39a7abeea3901a681f847199ed88<\/a><\/td> | shevabad<\/td> | May 30, 2022<\/td> | Jun 06, 2023<\/td> | 718<\/td><\/tr> |
com.shrp.sght<\/td> | Amber<\/td> | b4acfaeada60f41f6925628c824bb35e<\/a><\/td> | kodaslda<\/td> | Feb 27, 2022<\/td> | Aug 19, 2023<\/td> | 19<\/td><\/tr> |
com.cryptopulsing.browser<\/td> | CryptoPulsing<\/td> | e165cda25ef49c02ed94ab524fafa938<\/a><\/td> | shevabad<\/td> | Nov 02, 2022<\/td> | Jun 06, 2023<\/td> | 790<\/td><\/tr> |
com.brnmth.mtrx<\/td> | Brain Matrix<\/td> | \u2013<\/td> | kodaslda<\/td> | Apr 27, 2022<\/td> | Jun 06, 2023<\/td> | 259<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n One of the apps, AirFS, posed as a file-sharing app and amassed over 30,000 downloads before its removal from Google Play.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n |