At least 90,000 LG televisions are affected by several vulnerabilities, three of which are critical. Cybercriminals can take advantage of this to interfere in home networks.
We may tend to forget it, but televisions, however good their quality, are connected objects which, in an equally connected environment, are subject to cyber risk. Bitdefender tells us, this Wednesday, April 10, 2024, that more than 90,000 LG televisions are affected by four vulnerabilities which can allow a hacker to add themselves as a user of the device. With all the consequences that this can have. Which devices are affected? Have any cases been recorded in France? How to protect yourself from it? We give you all the answers.
Cybercriminals can take control of LG TVs
Cyber experts explain that the flaws affect versions 4 to 7 of the operating system of televisions from the South Korean manufacturer, LG WebOS TV. Attackers who exploit them can gain root access, after bypassing the authentication of affected versions.
It is once added as a user that the cybercriminal can increase their access, to obtain root control of the device. From there, it can use the vulnerabilities to inject malware of different natures: information stealer (infostealer), ransomware and others.
This malware can be injected into the compromised home network. They can then go well beyond the simple television and touch all the connected devices in the home. The hacker can also spy on traffic. Three of the four vulnerabilities even reach a score of 9.1, which classifies them as critical level flaws.
An update to the LG WebOS operating system is urgent
We know that at least 91,000 televisions are affected by these vulnerabilities, without it being possible to know, at this stage, whether some of them were directly targeted by malicious individuals or not. “ This is a low estimate », Warns Bitdefender, the publisher cannot extend its research further than that, LG WebOS being a local network service.
These flaws in any case affect the proprietary mobile OS from the manufacturer LG, which operates using a Linux kernel. Countries like South Korea, the United States or Sweden would be among the most exposed. France has recorded several cases, perhaps hundreds or thousands, it is impossible to know.
“ If you have an LG TV, make sure you’re running the latest version of WebOS. Also make sure your home router is protected, because if compromised, any breaches (including local network ones) can compromise security and privacy “, explains Bob Botezatu of Bitdefender. The watchword, as you will have understood, is the urgent software update. Because LG has obviously corrected these four vulnerabilities.
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