CyanogenMod Android ROMs Accidentally Logged Screen Unlock Patterns
tlhIngan writes "Heads up CyanogenMod users — you will want to update to the latest nightly build as it turns out that your unlock patterns were accidentally logged. The fix has been committed and is in the latest build. While not easy to access (it requires access to a backup image or the device), it was a potential security hole. It was added back in August when Cyanogen added the ability to customize the screen lock size.`"
I'm posting this through my remote zombie Cyanogenmod handset.
It's these sort of things that make you paranoid about the world+dog having access to everything. If it's not outright surveillance it's accidental. If not by design then by lack of design. A bug, a user error, a missed setting, a weak password etc. *puts on tin foil hat* Screw this, I'm going somewhere, underground, without electricity or things that need it. Log that.
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
If an official ROM did this it would be taken as an evil invasion of privacy by Samsung, HTC or Google, but when the Cyanogen team does it it's immediately accepted as an accident.
Interesting.
That's one of the issues with many committers, you can't review all the code before it ships off in a build. I seem to remember a bug in openssl where some kid commented an entropy line "because it showed warnings at compile-time" and managed to commit it without raising suspicions.
Bottom line, where are the code reviewers in this process? QA?
So, nothing to see here, move along.
There are others who would have done the same as well. Glad that a happening project like Cyanogenmod takes such things seriously.
What protection can you really expect from the screen lock? Someone who is determined enough can usually use the android debugging bridge to do whatever the hell they want with it anyway (either in recovery or when booted up). As the saying goes: if you have physical access to a device... all bets are off anyway.
The screen lock is simply to protect against most "attackers".
You can bypass the lockscreen on any phone that has CM installed. Just hook it up to a PC with a USB cable, up pops the "Turn on USB storage" screen, hit Home, bam, you're in.
I don't use any lockscreen gesture or password, because I find them a PITA, and I want my gf to be able to use it without hassles. On the other hand, I try to treat my phone as I treat my wallet. I look around me when I pull it out of my pocket. I wait until the subway doors are closed. Etc.
iOS logs lock screen codes? Outrage! Pitchforks! Fire! Oh wait it's Android? No worries, it's cool everyone.
The difference is that I trust CyanogenMod more than I do the big corporations. I have seen them "do no evil". This makes it seem like a more honest mistake, in a nightly build no less. The other large corporations, have given us reason to have trepidation.
Basically, the story is that:
It is debugging code left in a development build, that happens to be used by many persons as nightlies.
It does not write to a file. It is debug information written to a ring buffer in RAM. You would need to have an app installed with permission on the logs, or connect a cable in debug mode and trace the log to even get these messages.
It was found in a code review, and removed.
So much a non-issue that it is a wonder that Ars even reported it. Seems Ars misread a mailing list heads-up. We are waiting for Ars to publish the correction to their article.
Prediction for end of Universe #42: Fencepost error in Quantum_bogosort.cpp
A issue in a nightly build! OMG!
Never ascribe to malice what you can to incompetence.
That said, boy is that convenient if someone needed to gain access.
who cares? those unlock patterns are laughably weak protection anyway.
While unlock patterns are fast and easy, often you can just look at someone's phone and tell the 2 options for what their pattern is.
The thread following TFA mentions that this is for CM10 nightlies, so if you're tracking the development branch, you just need to upgrade to the latest nightly to ensure you have the fix.
We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of the dreams.
"An alternative to removing the line is adding a character to the code so it's treated as a comment and isn't executed." What is this wizardry?
...if the results were uploaded to a central location for data mining. I wonder what patterns are the most popular...