Suspected Malware - Sanity check

paranoidandroid26

I'd like someone to tell me if I'm going crazy or not. I started getting 100s of DCL errors a day. I started checking apps for anything I didn't recognize and found a lot of system apps with 0 byte of data, no ability to uninstall them, and all of them sharing version number 16 and versionCode 36. I don't know what any of these apps do and upon factory reset there are 209 of them.

There are 13 apps on factory reset that have the "Modify system settings" permission and half of them say they are version number 16. They include:

Android Easter Egg
Bluetooth
Contacts
Gallery
Media picker
NFC Service
Phone
Phone Services
RcsService
Shell
Sounds Tethering
Work Setup

Are these all normal apps? Am I freaking out about nothing? Or is this strange?

Most worrisome is that after factory reset I still have an App called "GrapheneOS" that has a ton of permissions, unrestricted battery usage, background battery usage, also has version 16, versionCode 36, and no ability to disable or change settings. Is this normal? AI says it is malware and I should replace the phone.

Somebody with more knowledge than me please let me know what I can do. I'm freaking out a bit.

nologo

paranoidandroid26 Are these all normal apps?

Yes. Those are normal system apps. Leave them be, do not change their permissions or anything.

paranoidandroid26 Am I freaking out about nothing?

Yes, you are.

paranoidandroid26 AI says it is malware and I should replace the phone.

AI always confirms your expectations (even if those are completely wrong). It's all confirmation bias. Please don't consult LLM's if you want truth or facts. Or ever at all.

Novalissoide

paranoidandroid26 AI says GrapheneOS is malware... 🎯

DeletedUser720

paranoidandroid26 tell me if I'm going crazy

yeah, you do, since you relied on llm with a path of fear, that's enough of an evidence

xbxbz

paranoidandroid26

I started getting 100s of DCL errors a day.

any image or video proof?

Novalissoide

paranoidandroid26 100s of DCL errors a day

You mean, like notifications popping up on screen, apps crashing?

NoahRaketic

paranoidandroid26 I started getting 100s of DCL errors a day.

From where? System apps, or is it a specific app? Dynamic Code Loading just means that the app uses code not included in the APK itself. It's not a sign of malware.

paranoidandroid26 checking apps for anything I didn't recognize

Unless you're familiar Android and GrapheneOS development, there will be apps you don't recognize.

paranoidandroid26 upon factory reset there are 209 of them

Malware persistence will not happen after a factory reset (provided that the verified boot hash is correct).

paranoidandroid26 Most worrisome is that after factory reset I still have an App called "GrapheneOS" that has a ton of permissions, unrestricted battery usage, background battery usage, also has version 16, versionCode 36, and no ability to disable or change settings. Is this normal? AI says it is malware and I should replace the phone.

This is a normal system app. Please don't get hung up on what an LLM has told you.

EverettHitch

We all know that this does not happen for a regular user and without proper description of the third party app environment it just might be a part of smear campaign or outright incompetency to drive a KISS OS.

DeletedUser728

EverettHitch it is still a positive sign, because most Likely it is a side effect of increasing popularity of GOS)