[bri3d]

In my mind, "backdoor" is a subset of vulnerability where an intentional permission escalation mechanism can be used in nefarious ways - hence making this a backdoor first and a vulnerability second.

I suspect the code was placed on the phone very intentionally for use by a non-nefarious update or sync agent, especially due to the name of the binary. Hence, a backdoor - just not the "OMG Chinese government watching us" tinfoil hat backdoor it's been made out to be.