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Bug In Android Passes Keystrokes To Root Shell
pasokon writes "ZDNet reports on an Android bug in T-Mobile G1s with early versions of the firmware: 'When the phone booted it started up a command shell as root and sent every keystroke you ever typed on the keyboard from then on to that shell. Thus every word you typed, in addition to going to the foreground application would be silently and invisibly interpreted as a command and executed with superuser privileges. ... open the keyboard tray on your G1, ignore anything you see on the screen, and type these 8 keystrokes: (enter)-r-e-b-o-o-t-(enter). Poof, your phone will reboot.'"
Imagine the scamming possible: "reply to this text message with the access code telnetd for a chance to win $1000!"
Suddenly, the memory-and-keystroke-saving command names of the past combine with the keystroke-saving text-speak of the present to create the nightmarish user interaction bugs of the future.
RomSteady - I came, I saw, I tested. GamerTag: RomSteady / http://www.romsteady.net
doesn't wo
I am typing this from my Android. I have tried this and I don't have any pr
NO CARRIER
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
http://pinopsida.com
Maybe you should try this one:
enter rm -Rf / enter
Just to be sure.
In the name of all that is holy, who has a file matching *.* in their root?!
I wondered why I couldn't use my phone anymore. I thought Slashdot got pwned by some worm that infected my Android browser after the last time I logged in...
This is obviously bad for Apple. I mean if the iPhone weren't all like, locked down, and, um....
Yeah, anyway, the iPhone is done for, no question. I mean you can't even GET to root shell on an iPhone, and here it is a standard feature on Android! Mind-boggling indeed!
You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
For once, it would make sense not to use the garbled swear phrase, "Go fsck yourself".
Face your daemons!
In the name of all that is holy, who has a file matching *.* in their root?!
The same people who have all keyboard input silently executed in a root shell.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I'm beginning to suspect it could be intentional for free advertising at this point.
Only if they're advertising iPhones or BlackBerrys.
This comment is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real insight or information is purely coincidental.
Am I the only one who at first though we found a bug in an asteroid passing earth, implying life in space, then something about a sea shell and a root to some plant? And all of this being some key to something, not sure what... Hmmm... I think I need more sleep.
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Instant karma's a bitch.
After hearing about the backdoor kill switch, the platform became irrelevant to me in the first place. :/
Sad because I was looking forward to it. I guess there must be a way to block that though, right? Unless software updates remove the remover remover?
*looks at last sentence*
Wow... it's just not worth the effort to even begin that fight...
Good. You should never enter a command you don't understand. I'm all for raising the bar above water level.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
These phones are not on the google networks, and not low risk items like Google Earth. In many cases phones are not toys and cosumers expect them to be safe and secure.
And that my friend is why I have the cheapest prepaid phone available, your attitude! I simply don't care to be like so many people I see tethered to an electronic device that makes them unaware of their surroundings and appear rude and narcissistic in public! I don't know you! I don't want to talk to you! And I certainly don't want to hear that you need to stop by the gas station to pick up a gallon of milk because you forgot it at Wal-Mart! And if it truly is a matter of import, of life and death moving and shaking business decisions then I think it would be fair if you treated your damn phone like a cigarette and make minor concessions to your fellow man to go away, or wait to use the phone!
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
Yeah the iPhone is really dead now. Apple totally blew it, I agree. It's totally done for. This is a total misfeature: a hidden root shell!
BTW what's this 'Android' you're talking about?
Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
NEWS AT 11: Slashdot poster confirms this is a bug!
Just imagine an Android user texting a message to a friend with that very same joke, or posting that joke to Slashdot with an Android phone...
An accurate description of the Swiss navy. Next?
If you want to keep from fubar-ing your G1 by typing in the wrong stuff accidentally, just type "cat [enter]" first thing when you power on the device, and it will be defused from then on. All input will be harmlessly filed away to stdout.
Wait--you're missing the big picture.
Jailbreak the phone!
Woo! We now have root access! We can hax0r the phone and load our own custom applic...what? Oh. Shit. Wrong phone. I'll wait for the next iPhone article.
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