Slashdot Mirror
T-Mobile G1 Rooted
An anonymous reader writes "T-Mobile's G1 phone, the first commercially available Android based phone, has been rooted. The exploit is extremely simple to execute, just requiring you to run telnetd from a terminal on the phone, and then connecting to the phone via telnet."
The phone isn't rooted. Rooted means someone gained root access through an exploit and/or installed a root kit. Running telnetd and then connecting as root is a normal method of logging in, no exploits required.
Well, given that it's a device that isn't designed to be root-accessible by the user, this did require somebody to do something that the manufacturer didn't intend in order to gain root access.
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
Sorry, I fail for not RTFA. They are misusing "rooted", which confused me. "rooted" in the popular [geek] vernacular means that a remote non-admin user can gain root access, such as through a buffer overflow exploit. It has nothing to do with the practice of gaining root access on your own devices.
It's apparently weirder than that. Running "telnetd" as an ordinary user apparently allows remote logins as root. This happens even though the "telnetd" executable does not apparently come with permissions set-UID to root. If that's correct, there's a security hole somewhere else that's being used by accident here. Is "login" a set-UID program on Android phones?
(As a robotics guy, I hate the name "Android" being used for a telephone. It's the worst choice since "U.S. Robotics" which ended up as a modem company.)
And it also works in the other way... you can put your already rooted equipment into any window, and anybody inside that house will be able to gain root access, and also call the
police
If the door's unlocked, it's hardly "breaking in," is it?
Yes it is.
The "Breaking" part of "Breaking & Entering" refers to breaking the plane of entry, not physically damaging anything.
"Breaking" is not actually a separate action from "Entering". The reason they are used together is for clarity...one word derives from Old English, and the other word derives from French. Writing laws this way was useful when the Normans and Saxons were trying to cohabitate on the same island.
There are many legal terms constructed the same way:
Null and void
Cease and desist
Last Will and Testament
Aid and Abet
Goods and Chattels
Terms and Conditions
etc.
Erm.... Breaking and entering is exactly what it says. Just entering is call trespassing, and just breaking is called criminal damage. Don't ask me how I know :).