Amnesty Finds Cellebrite’s Zero-Day Used to Unlock Serbian Activist’s Android Phone

Summary: A Serbian youth activist’s Android phone was targeted using a zero-day exploit developed by Cellebrite, enabling authorities to bypass the device’s lock screen. The exploit leveraged vulnerabilities in Linux kernel USB drivers and was discovered post the activist’s arrest following a protest. Amnesty International raised concerns about the misuse of technology for surveillance and hacking purposes.

Affected: Serbian youth activist (referred to as “Vedran”) and Android devices

Keypoints :

• Exploit used was CVE-2024-53104, a privilege escalation vulnerability in USB Video Class driver.
• Cellebrite’s tools were utilized to unlock the activist’s Samsung Galaxy A32 after confiscation.
• Amnesty highlights the exploitation of Android USB attack surface and the potential for future abuses.
• Cellebrite has ceased software use in Serbia in response to the misuse of its technology.