Lenovo has released updates for the Windows and Android versions of its SHAREit application to address a series of vulnerabilities reported by researchers at Core Security.
SHAREit is an application that allows users to share files and folders between their smartphones, tablets and PCs via a Wi-Fi hotspot created on the sender’s system or via a local area network. SHAREit is preinstalled on some Lenovo laptops, notebooks and mobile devices, but it can also be installed on any Windows or Android machine. The Android version has been downloaded from Google Play between 100 and 500 million times.
Core Security researchers discovered that the Wi-Fi hotspot created by SHAREit for Windows can be accessed by anyone using a static password, namely “12345678,” that cannot be changed by the user. In the case of the Android version, the Wi-Fi hotspot is left open and it can be accessed without providing a password. These issues have been assigned the CVE identifiers CVE-2016-1491, respectively CVE-2016-1492.
Both the Android and Windows versions of the Lenovo application transferred files via HTTP without encryption, allowing a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacker to copy or modify content as it was transferred from one device to another. This flaw has been tracked as CVE-2016-1489.
Another weakness in the Windows version of SHAREit allows an attacker connected to the Wi-Fi hotspot or the local network to view the user’s files (CVE-2016-1490). Core Security and Lenovo have pointed out that the vulnerability cannot be leveraged to download files.
In addition to the bugs reported by Core Security, Lenovo has also resolved a denial-of-service (DoS) issue reported by independent researcher Peter Nelson.
Core Security reported the vulnerabilities to Lenovo in late October and the tech company patched them on Monday with the release of SHAREit 3.2.0 for Windows and SHAREit 3.5.38_ww for Android.
The new versions include a “secure mode” option that allows users to configure a unique password that prevents unauthorized parties from connecting to the hotspot. In addition, this password acts as a key for encrypting transferred files using AES-256.
Last week, Core Security disclosed the details of an information disclosure vulnerability affecting Intel’s Driver Update Utility.
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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