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this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2023
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Android
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Vulnerabilities in the baseband chip mean that, whether it runs a custom operating system or not, all old phones should be considered compromised.
Such vulnerabilities are impossible to fix or mitigate because the baseband firmware is proprietary, exists outside the operating system, is responsible for communicating with the outside world (meaning literally anyone can attack it at any time), and has unfettered access to the entire phone (meaning it can take over the operating system).
Don't use an old phone for anything unless you're comfortable with some overseas crime ring seeing it.
Just to make it clear: flashing a different OS will not protect you!
It's not necessarily true that the baseband has unfettered access to the entire phone. Pixel devices for example use a special IOMMU to restrict what the baseband can access, forcing it to go through a specialized interface only. It still requires more work for a compromise of baseband to get control of Android.
First you need to exploit the baseband. Then, you need to exploit the kernel.
Now, that's a significant attack surface, but the point stands that many phones now have some compartmentalization because of this risk. This has been a concern for some time and newer designs are trying to mitigate it.
Here's a security evaluation of the pixel which shows that a compromise of the modem does not equate to an immediate compromise of the device. The modem must be restricted in what it can access of the application processor.
That's good news, but GrapheneOS does not support older Pixel phones because they are insecure and cannot be made secure, so apparently the baseband isn't the only problem.
Unfortunately, they're not specific about which firmware poses a security threat unless updated. I was under the impression that the baseband firmware is the problem, but I must have been mistaken.