Mobile phones with Unisoc chips have been discovered to be vulnerable to a flaw that might allow attackers to restrict connectivity from afar. Check Point Research, a cybersecurity research organization, stated on Thursday that it had discovered a weakness in the Unisoc modem that might affect communication.

According to the company, the problem is in the modem firmware and affects 4G and 5G Unisoc chipsets.

Unisoc recognised the vulnerability and rated it as critical, giving it a 9.4 out of 10 rating. The significant vulnerability, known as CVE-2022-20210, was identified when scanning Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message handlers, according to Check Point Research. The flaw might allow a hacker or a military force to interrupt a device's radio connectivity by sending a faulty packet.

With the Android January 2022 security patch, Check Point Research was able to discover the vulnerability on the Unisoc T700 chip-based Motorola Moto G20. The problem, however, is not restricted to a single Unisoc SoC type or a single phone. In a prepared statement, Slava Makkaveev, Reverse Engineering and Security Research Researcher at Check Point Software, said, "We uncovered a weakness in the Unisoc modem built in 11 percent of cellphones."

When the vulnerability was disclosed, the Shanghai-based chipmaker recognized it and offered a fix.

"An attacker might have utilized a radio station to deliver a faulty packet to the modem, thereby shutting it down and preventing the user from communicating. An attacker can prevent cellular communication if it isn't fixed." The vulnerability was discovered in the Unisoc modem firmware, not in the Android operating system, according to Makkaveev. In May, Check Point Research informed Unisoc of its results.

Users, on the other hand, have yet to receive the patch. According to the research company, Google stated that the fix will be included in the future Android Security Bulletin. Users should always upgrade their mobile phones to the most recent software version available, according to Check Point Research.