Security2 hOctober 11, 2026, 21:41

Bitdefender finds preinstalled Android malware Midnight Mimosa in 150 countries

Bitdefender uncovered Midnight Mimosa, preinstalled malware baked into firmware of low-cost MediaTek Android phones that cannot be removed. With system-level privileges it runs ad and click fraud, silently installs apps and turns devices into residential-proxy nodes for botnets across roughly 150 countries.

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Open source

Bitdefender finds preinstalled Android malware Midnight Mimosa in 150 countries

Malware is embedded in firmware, cannot be uninstalled, seen in 150 countries
Packages com.android.system.lite, sys.prot, sys.gmsprot and sys.bcprot share one codebase
It silently installs at least 32 apps and enables Accessibility and SMS access
Infected phones become residential-proxy relay nodes for DDoS botnets

#Bitdefender#Android#MediaTek

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