Google Researchers Hacked the Pixel Phone using Audio Messages
Thanks to @ThreatLocker for sponsoring this video and my trip to Black Hat!
What if someone could take control of your phone just by sending carefully crafted audio messages?
I spoke with Natalie Silvanovich and Seth Jenkins from Google Project Zero about how they built a complete zero-click exploit chain against the Pixel 9 and Pixel 10. Special mention to
Ivan Fratric for his contribution to this work as well.
They explain how Android’s automatic audio transcription exposed a vulnerable Dolby decoder, how they escaped the media codec sandbox and how a second vulnerability gave them root access.
We also discuss:
• Why the exploit took weeks to develop
• Which Android security protections worked
• Which protections could be bypassed
• Why the same Dolby bug did not affect iPhones
• How AI helped with some of the repetitive work
The vulnerabilities were responsibly disclosed and patched. If your Pixel is up to date, you are protected.
Watch the full video: youtu.be/TrtCJaz0sdo