Memory corruption lets attackers hijack control flow, execute code, elevate privileges, and leak data.
ARM’s Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) aims to mitigate by tagging memory and checking tags on access.
The following researchers found speculative execution attacks can leak MTE tags via new TIKTAG gadgets exploiting branch prediction, prefetchers, and store-to-load forwarding.
Juhee Kim from Seoul National University
Jinbum Park from Samsung Research
Sihyeon Roh from Seoul National University
Jaeyoung Chung from Seoul National University
Youngjoo Lee from Seoul National University
Taesoo Kim from Samsung Research and Georgia Institute of Technology
Byoungyoung Lee from Seoul National University
Cybersecurity analysts developed real-world attacks against Chrome, and Linux kernel leaking tags over 95% success in less than 4 seconds.
The findings show that designing MTE mitigations requires considering speculative execution vulnerabilities.
However, it’s been reported to ARM, Google, and Android. As MTE adoption grows, understanding these issues is crucial for secure deployment.
Security researchers explore an attacker model targeting systems with Memory Tagging Extension (MTE), which uses random tags for memory allocations and tag checks on every memory access.
The attacker knows memory corruption vulnerabilities and aims to bypass MTE by learning the tag for a memory address, allowing exploitation without crashing the process.
Researchers present two speculative execution gadgets that leak MTE tags by leveraging microarchitectural behaviors affected by tag check results, such as data prefetching, speculative execution, and store-to-load forwarding:-
Mitigations involve hardware changes to separate these behaviors from tag checks or software techniques like speculation barriers.
An MTE tag leakage template (Source – Arxiv)
The researchers present real-world attacks that use the TIKTAG speculative execution gadget to bypass Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) protections in Google Chrome and the Linux kernel.
They created a TIKTAG-v2 gadget in the V8 JavaScript engine for Chrome to enable leaking MTE tags, which leads to over 97% successful linear overflow and use after free vulnerability exploitation.
The Linux kernel’s code includes a TIKTAG-v1 gadget that can leak tags across the user and kernel boundaries.
By doing so, they manage to circumvent kernel MTE protections regarding buffer overflow and use-after-free with 97% effectiveness.
For example, mitigations include strengthening speculative sandboxes, inserting barriers between speculations, and avoiding constructing gadgets using patterns.
These attacks from security experts show that speculative execution must be considered when creating some hardware-enforced security mechanisms.
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TikTok will be getting a fancy AI-based feature for businesses. The social media platform will soon let AI create a so-called “digital avatar”, which can help you promote branded content more easily. The digital avatar will be based on real people.
AI personas will be intended to help creators and businesses with branded content, and it could generate human-like promotions quickly.
Right now, TikTok has two kinds of avatars: stock avatars and custom ones. The stock avatars are based on real paid influencers, and the custom one is based on creators and brand spokespeople. The avatars can be customized to speak in different languages, and also to create different content for different target audiences.
The new feature will help creators and businesses get more reach, underlines the company.
Of course, as with any AI-generated feature, these currently reportedly don’t look too much human-y. And that’s, honestly, a bit creepy, as Engadget says. That fakeness will be a challenge that AI makers will have to face in order to make the speaking style and body movements look less fabricated and fake.
Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master’s degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She’s also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it’s walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
Europol and law enforcement agencies from ten countries have taken down 13 websites linked to terrorist operations.
The joint operation, known as Operation HOPPER II, targeted online platforms used by religious and politically motivated terrorist organizations to spread propaganda and recruit members.
Targeting Key Assets in Online Terrorist Propaganda
Operation HOPPER II focused on disrupting the online dissemination of terrorist propaganda by targeting websites operated by groups such as the so-called Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
The operation resulted in the seizure of four servers in Romania, Ukraine, and Iceland and the removal of associated websites.
The European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) within Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre coordinated the operation, working closely with law enforcement authorities from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Moldova, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
PERCI: A Single System for Referrals and Removal Orders
Europol has developed a technical solution called the EU Platform on Illicit Content Online (PERCI) to facilitate the implementation of the Terrorist Content Online Regulation (TCO Regulation – (EU) 2021/784).
PERCI is a single system connecting EU Member States with hosting service providers, enabling the efficient transmission of removal orders for terrorist content.
The successful execution of Operation HOPPER II demonstrates the effectiveness of international cooperation in combating terrorist propaganda online.
By targeting key assets and leveraging advanced technical solutions, Europol and its partners continue to disrupt the ability of terrorist organizations to recruit, radicalize, and mobilize supporters through the Internet.
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Microsoft’s Phone Link application is getting some improvements this week. For now, the Windows 11 update that brings meaningful enhancements to the app is only available to insiders, but it shouldn’t take too long until everyone gets access to it.
Spotted by 9to5google, the Windows 11 integration of Microsoft’s Phone Link will allow users to share files directly to their Android devices. A new option to share content to “My Phone” has been added in the Windows share window, as seen in the screenshot below.
New option to share content to My Phone, Credits – Microsoft
According to Microsoft, the new feature requires users to pair their Android devices to their Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on their PC. This is the only way to enable the ability to share content to an Android device from the Windows share window.
Keep in mind that while this should be universally useful whenever you need to share content to your Android device, some apps might not support this feature. Since Microsoft integrates this into Windows 11, you absolutely must have your PC run on to this version of the operating system if you want to take advantage of it.
Once again, this is only available for Windows Insiders. If you’re already enrolled in the beta program, look for Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3785 (KB50339319), which should include this functionality among other new features and improvements.
Smartphone manufacturers from China made some truly compelling flagships in the last year or so. We’ll compare two of them here, current-gen flagships, the OnePlus 12 vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. OnePlus’ handset originally launched in December, but its global launch followed in Q1 this year. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra was announced back in April. Both models do come in global variants, though the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra ships without Google services. Huawei’s very own services and app store are included.
We will first check out their specifications, and will then move to other categories. We’ll be comparing their designs, displays, performance, battery life, camera performance, and audio output. These two phones are both powerful, but also quite different in so many was. That being said, let’s get to it.
It may seem, at first, that both smartphones have curved displays. That’s not really the case, though. The OnePlus 12 does, but the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does not. It has a quad-curved glass on top of its display, so it may seem like the display is curved. The back sides of both smartphones are proportional to the front, in case you were wondering. The materials used on the back are different, however. The OnePlus 12 comes with a glass back, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra includes vegan leather aka eco-leather.
Both phones use aluminum for their frames, while the OnePlus 12 is slightly taller, wider, and thicker. It is also slightly lighter, by 6 grams. That’s not something you’ll notice while you’re using the phone, however. Both phones have a centered display camera hole on the front, and very thin bezels. The bezels on the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra are uniform, and that device has more rounded corners than the OnePlus 12.
Physical buttons sit on the right-hand side of both smartphones. The thing is, the OnePlus 12 also has an alert slider switch, and it’s located on the left side. Their camera islands both sit in the top-left corner on the back, but they look considerably different. The one on the OnePlus 12 is round, but it has a piece of metal that connects it to the side frame. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a truly unique-looking camera island, it’s even hard to describe. It is very easy to recognize it, however. Both phones include three cameras in there.
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is easier to hold and use, and the fact it’s less slippery has something to do with it. They feel entirely different in the hand, though. The OnePlus 12 offers an IP65 certification for water and dust resistance, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra comes with an IP68 certification.
OnePlus 12 vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Display
The OnePlus 12 includes a 6.82-inch QHD+ (3168 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. That panel is curved, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Dolby Vision is supported, and the same goes for HDR10+ content. The peak brightness of this panel is 4,500 nits, in theory, though you’ll never be able to go that high. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 90%, while the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protects this panel.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 6.8-inch 2844 x 1260 LTPO OLED display. That panel can also project up to 1 billion colors, and it does support HDR content. Its refresh rate is adaptive, and it goes up to 120Hz. The peak brightness of this display is at 2,500 nits. The screen-to-body ratio here is around 89%, while the panel is protected by Kunlun Glass (Basalt-tempered).
Not many of you will have complaints on either one of these two panels. They are both vivid, more than sharp enough, and have great viewing angles. The blacks are deep, and the touch response is also very good. Both panels are also well-protected, and they are also more than bright enough. There’s really nothing to complain about here. You can always nitpick, but the fact is, both of these displays are outstanding.
OnePlus 12 vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Performance
The OnePlus 12 is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, Qualcomm’s most powerful chip. The phone also includes up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. On the flip side, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is fueled by the Kirin 9010 processor. It includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Neither phone offers storage expansion, in case you were wondering.
The OnePlus 12 has a considerably more powerful chip, a 4nm processor, compared to a 7nm chip inside the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. Huawei is limited by the US sanctions, so it had to be creative. With that in mind, both processors do a great job regarding performance. Huawei optimized the performance of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra really well. We did not have any issues with performance, as it was able to keep up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in regards to multitasking, browsing, multimedia consumption, image processing, and so on.
If you fire up benchmarks, you’ll see considerable differences, of course. You’ll also notice a difference if you end up playing the most demanding games out there. The OnePlus 12 will perform better as it has a considerably more powerful chip. For everything else, however, they both performed really well, we didn’t have a problem whatsoever.
OnePlus 12 vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Battery
A 5,400mAh battery sits inside the OnePlus 12. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a 5,200mAh battery pack. The display sizes are almost identical here. In regards to battery life, the OnePlus 12 did better for us, overall. Just to be clear, both phones offered really good battery life, but the OnePlus 12 was able to pull ahead a bit. Both phones are capable of crossing the 7-hour screen-on-time mark, as long as you’re not gaming or something like that.
The OnePlus 12 was truly able to go the distance, as it offered approximately 20%+ better battery life. It was able to cross the 8-hour screen-on-time mark when needed, and still have some juice left in the tank. Both phones can go the distance if you need them to, that’s for sure. Yes, the OnePlus 12 did better for us, but the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra also offered great battery life, so… chances are most of you will be happy with the battery life both of these phones provide.
In regards to charging, both of them are well-equipped, but the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is more versatile. The device supports 100W wired, 80W wireless, 20W reverse wireless, and 18W reverse wired charging. The OnePlus 12 supports 100W wired (80W in the US), 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. Huawei offers faster wireless and reverse wireless charging, while it also offers reverse wired charging, unlike the OnePlus 12. Both smartphones do include a charger in the box, though.
OnePlus 12 vs Huawei Pura 70 Ultra: Cameras
You will find three cameras on the back of both of these phones. The OnePlus 12 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit (114-degree FoV), and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3x optical zoom). The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 50-megapixel main camera (variable aperture, sensor-shift OIS, retractable lens). In addition to that, a 40-megapixel ultrawide unit is also included, and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3.5x optical zoom).
OnePlus 12
Both of these smartphones can provide outstanding images. In fact, they’re amongst the best camera smartphones out there. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does have the edge, though. Its main camera is more reliable, as it rarely misses a shot. The OnePlus 12 is not far from it, but still, it’s a bit behind. The two devices also provide different shots. The OnePlus 12 images are a bit more contrasty, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra shots have a warm tone to them, more often than not.
In low light, both phones are immensely capable. The colors on the OnePlus 12 look outstanding, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra balances low light shots perfectly. Their secondary cameras do a good job of keeping up with the color science of the main camera. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra’s telephoto camera is a great macro camera too, actually, one of the best on the market.
Audio
You will find stereo speakers on both of these devices. The ones on the OnePlus 12 are a bit louder, though. The difference is not huge, but that is something worth noting. The sound output is well-optimized and balanced on both phones.
You will not find a 3.5mm headphone jack on either of these two phones. They both have a Type-C port at the bottom, however, so you can utilize it if you want to connect your headphones via a wire, of course. If not, Bluetooth 5.4 is available on the OnePlus 12. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra offers Bluetooth 5.2.
TikTok has revealed its plan to launch a newly generative AI feature called “digital avatar” for businesses. This feature will help businesses create and promote branded content more easily. The digital avatar is based on real people and is part of TikTok’s effort to improve social media campaigns.
TikTok’s generative AI-powered avatars are based on real peoples
The generative AI-powered avatars are made exclusively for brands and businesses. The goal of it is to help the creators and brands promote their products and services more easily. The tech giant states that “AI personas are intended to assist creators and businesses in developing branded content. The generative AI will aid them in generating human-like promotions in a shorter timeframe.”
As of right now, TikTok offers two kinds of avatars: stock avatars and custom avatars. The former is based on real paid influencers, while the latter is based on creators and brand spokespeople. The avatars can be customized to speak in different languages and to create different content to cater to the needs of the target audience.
The brand further claims that the new features can help the creators and businesses get even more reach on the platform. This will also indirectly result in generating higher revenue for the brand.
The generative AI avatars still need a lot of improvements
Engadget recently tested a new AI-generated avatar video on TikTok. While the video looks good, it still lacks a human-like touch. It appears too artificial, but the voice does resemble the original personality. However, the speaking style and body movements seem too fabricated.
Well, it might be too early to judge the functionality. But for now, it’s not what the audience wants. The feature still has a lot of areas where it can improve. It will be interesting to see whether TikTok will improve the AI avatars in the future
At long last, a user has managed to unearth and activate hidden RCS (Rich Communication Services) support within the iOS 18 beta, which is not yet officially available even though it was announced at Apple’s WWDC conference last week. This is effectively the first glimpse into what cross-platform messaging could look like between iPhones and Android devices.Screenshots shared on X by @dhinakg reveal that Apple’s implementation of RCS will likely include features like delivery status indicators and file transfers. It also appears that high-resolution file sharing will be possible between iMessage and Android users once the feature is officially released. This is no surprise, as we expected as much from Apple’s implementation as well as the fact that non-iMessage texts will continue to appear in a green bubble. However, some key features are noticeably absent in this early version.
For instance, read receipts from iPhone users in group chats and the ability to react to messages from Android users are currently missing. It is unclear if this is by design or if it will be added later. Additionally, there is no end-to-end encryption for messages exchanged between Android and iPhone devices, raising potential security concerns. We also suspected this would be the case since Apple indicated they’d be using the RCS Universal Profile, which lacks end-to-end encryption unlike Google’s Jive implementation.
Apple confirmed in late 2023 that it would be introducing RCS support to its devices, acknowledging that it would improve interoperability compared to SMS and MMS. The company specifically mentioned extending support to iMessage, suggesting a potential end to the “blue bubble” versus “green bubble” divide.
While this preview demonstrates progress, it’s clear that further development and refinement are needed before RCS support is fully realized. The absence of features like read receipts, message reactions, and end-to-end encryption highlights the challenges that remain in achieving seamless cross-platform messaging.
Despite these limitations, the potential benefits of RCS alongside iMessage are undeniable. Enhanced messaging features, improved file sharing capabilities, and potentially a more unified messaging experience could significantly improve communication between iPhone and Android users.
As iOS 18 continues its beta testing phase, users continue to eagerly anticipate the official rollout of RCS support. The introduction of this feature could mark a significant step towards greater interoperability and a more seamless messaging experience across different platforms.
A recent APK breakdown has revealed that Google Calendar may soon offer users more control over which holidays they see on their calendar. The update could include new options to hide specific holidays or to create a list of selected holidays to show.
Currently, you can only choose between showing all holidays or just public holidays in Google Calendar. However, it appears that this may change in an upcoming update to the Android version of Google Calendar.
According to this report, a new feature called “Hide this Holiday” has been discovered in the code of version 2024.23.0-641736842-release of the Android app. This feature could allow users to pick and choose which holidays they want to see on their calendar, potentially reducing clutter and allowing for a more personalized experience.
Image credit — Android Authority
In addition to the “Hide this Holiday” option, another new feature called “Selected holidays” was also found in the code. While it’s unclear exactly how this feature will work, it’s possible that it may allow users to create a custom list of holidays to display. This could be particularly useful for individuals who want to focus on specific cultural or religious holidays.The source also indicates that the “Public and other holidays” option may be renamed to “All holidays,” and the “National holidays” menu may be renamed to “Regional holidays.” These changes suggest that Google may be aiming to provide clearer and more intuitive options for managing holiday displays in Google Calendar.
It is expected that both of these new options will be available in both the app and web versions of Google Calendar. However, it’s important to note that these features are still in development and may not be released in the final version of the update. Google has not yet officially announced these new features, and it remains to be seen when they will be rolled out to users. However, the discovery of these features in the code hints that they may be coming soon.
A fresh Geekbench run for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 confirms the rumored RAM boost. The global version of the upcoming foldable (model number SM-F741B) showed up on the benchmarking platform with 12GB of RAM. We previously saw the US version (SM-F741U) with the same amount of RAM.
The 12GB RAM variant of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be available globally
Samsung has limited its Flip series clamshell foldables to 8GB of RAM since the first-gen model in 2020. That’s rumored to change this year with the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The upcoming model has always been rumored to come in a 12GB RAM variant. We now have another piece of evidence supporting this rumor.
The latest benchmark entry for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 confirms that the 12GB RAM variant will be available globally. Well, Samsung may not sell the higher RAM unit in every country, but the company certainly won’t keep it limited to select markets. After all, both the US and global versions are getting a RAM boost.
The standard model will feature 8GB of RAM. Storage options will include 256GB and 512GB. We may get the following three configurations:8GB+256GB, 8GB+512GB, and 12GB+512GB. Or maybe Samsung will also throw a 12GB+256GB option into the mix. We shall find out soon—the Galaxy Z Flip 6 launches in the first half of July.
There is no other major takeaway in this Geekbench listing. We already know that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will ship with Android 14-based One UI 6.1.1 out of the box. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (For Galaxy) processor. This chipset also powered the Galaxy S24 Ultra globally. Samsung should debut new AI features with the upcoming foldables—the lineup also includes the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
As far as the benchmark scores are concerned, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 achieved a single-core score of 2,321 and a multi-core score of 7,233. These scores are up to 5.5% higher than what the device achieved a month ago. This shows Samsung is at work optimizing the new clamshell foldable’s software experience. This is still a pre-production software version, so there is room for further improvement.
The launch date is all but officially confirmed for July 10
Samsung has yet to officially confirm the launch date for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. However, there are strong indications that the event will take place in Paris, France on July 10. The next Galaxy Unpacked will also bring the Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and more. We will let you know as soon as Samsung makes things official.
WhatsApp announced over the weekend many new features and improvements meant to enhance the call experience. The ability to share screens with audio and the increase of video call participants are among the most important changes coming to WhatsApp users this week.
However, if you’re also enrolled in the beta program, you’re getting even more new features. Even though they might not work properly at first, it’s always nice to get a sneak peek into the future.
The latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.13.6 adds the ability to transfer chat history without having to use Google Drive. Spotted by WABetaInfo, the new feature doesn’t seem to be ready for testing yet, so even if you’re a member of the beta program, you might not have access to it yet.
Thankfully, the folks at WABetaInfo discovered the feature and even took a screenshot that reveals WhatsApp does indeed plan to remove the need for have Google Drive to transfer chat history to another phone.
Transfer chat history without Google Drive, Credits – WABetaInfo
Although this feature that seems to be in-development has only been spotted in the Android version of the app, it’s unlikely that iOS users won’t be getting a similar one sooner or later.
WhatsApp already offers users the option to transfer chat history from their older phones, but the process is not that user-friendly regardless of whether you’re using an Android or iOS device. The new feature is meant to streamline the process of transferring chat history by removing at least one step.
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