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Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

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Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#51

Post by mpol »

hanklazard wrote: post #41
logingone wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an HTC bootlooped by an OTA, hence my now having a OnePlus3. Getting fed up with all this nonsense. Seems to me the android ecosystem is just too wild west, especially for such an important device, and may now have to head to apple. I see I also have this EngineerMode, data usage 1.4MB since Aug 7, modify system settings enabled. When I tweeted them about the recent data collection issue they replied with "it'…

I’ve made the same decision re: android and apple. I really wish there was a decent Linux phone I could buy ... anyone know if there are any good contenders or future prospects?

Did you check out Jolla and Sailfish OS?

You can now buy a Sony EXperia X and flash it to Sailfish OS.

I am quite happy with Sailfish. Still using it on my Jolla 1 as a daily driver after 3 years.

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#52

Post by dopamean »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #34

I've said it on HN before but it bears repeating: If you have a OnePlus, do yourself a favour and put LineageOS on it. It works perfectly on my OP3.

I just asked another commenter who suggested Lineage to talk a little about their experience with it since I just flashed PA onto my 3t this past Friday. I'm going to check it out a bit today. Do you know if it's a simple process to go from PA -> Lineage? A little about me: I am a pretty experience developer but not much of a tinkerer when it comes to phones. This flash to PA is only the third time I've done this with a phone and the last time was a few years ago.

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#53

Post by gerty »

nocoder wrote: post #10
darklajid wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lineageos is awesome. Unfortunately the camera app is quite a bit worse in my opinion (used it on the OnePlus One, 3T and haven't tested it with my 5). Guess some things are more important at this point..

I would like to use lineage OS but if I root my phone my work email will stop working. It is configured via Boxer app, is there a work around?

My bank app refused to install on a rooted phone. I used Magisk Manager to work around that. I guess it could work in this case as well. There is a 'hide root' option (or something similar).

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#55

Post by atomicnumber1 »

shpx wrote: post #40
therealmarv wrote: post #11

It's not the first time a big security/privacy leak was found on OnePlus' phones. Would stay far away from OnePlus phones.

I would stay away from proprietary software, especially if it was written in Russia or China. All of their tech companies owe their entire existence to their respective governments and it's not like the governments set up that environment for them for free.

Yes. And NSA/GCHQ just doesn't involve itself with any tech companies in the U.S and EU respectively.

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#56

Post by throw2016 »

shpx wrote: post #40
therealmarv wrote: post #11

It's not the first time a big security/privacy leak was found on OnePlus' phones. Would stay far away from OnePlus phones.

I would stay away from proprietary software, especially if it was written in Russia or China. All of their tech companies owe their entire existence to their respective governments and it's not like the governments set up that environment for them for free.

What is IntelME or AMD PSP just for starters? This is completely untenable in the face of all the revelations starting with Snowden, nsl letters, secret processes and secret courts.

No one will seriously claim the US tech industry has not benefited from the government.

No point singling out specific governments, the NSA is not on your side.

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#57

Post by lostmsu »

jetpks wrote: post #46
laxentasken wrote: post #15

Found it on my Oneplus X. Maybe this is the time to try out Apple.

As a long time iPhone user that swings Android every few years to try the waters, I am consistently blown away at the level of garbage Android users are expected to deal with on a regular basis. Want to know how many times my iPhones have boot looped in the last nine years? Not once ever. My last Android (Nexus 6p) managed to do it several times in the 3-ish months I daily-drove it. Want to know how long you can expe…

Anecdotally mine Androids never bootlooped (started with Dell Streak 5)

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#58

Post by milankragujevic »

mads wrote: post #16

Isn't the EngineerMode APK an MTK app? I have been involved in developing an Marshmallow MTK based phone in the past and in my experience their BSP's were pretty messy. I.e. a lot of cleaning up is necessary if you want a relatively quiet logcat and debugging APK's removed - even for user builds. Edit: I must have remembered wrong or I saw the EngineerMode on the QComm device we developed before our MTK based device.…

I have a shit Allwinner A33 tablet and it has SoftWinner APK AND EngineerMode APK. So idk maybe it's something shared for all Chinese devices...?

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#59

Post by milankragujevic »

Have it on my tablet that's not even Mediatek or Qualcomm, but instead Allwinner A33... Scary. I think I should throw it away. Or, since it comes pre-rooted and in engineer build mode instead of userdebug or prod, I think I just might uninstall the APK from the shell and sleep well tonight.

Re: Backdoor with root access found from OnePlus phones

#60

Post by zeveb »

jetpks wrote: post #46
laxentasken wrote: post #15

Found it on my Oneplus X. Maybe this is the time to try out Apple.

As a long time iPhone user that swings Android every few years to try the waters, I am consistently blown away at the level of garbage Android users are expected to deal with on a regular basis. Want to know how many times my iPhones have boot looped in the last nine years? Not once ever. My last Android (Nexus 6p) managed to do it several times in the 3-ish months I daily-drove it. Want to know how long you can expe…

> I am consistently blown away at the level of garbage Android users are expected to deal with on a regular basis.

My girlfriend uses an iPhone; I am consistently blown away by the amount of garbage she's expected to deal with on a regular basis. When she changes to another app, our video chats go dark; there's no Termux or GNURoot equivalent (that I'm aware of); tapping doesn't move the cursor but instead selects words (I think that's it); the mail app is hellaciously bad; she's stuck using Safari and seeing ads. So, so many ads. Ads everywhere. I never see ads on my phone, but on hers the Internet is nothing but ads as far as the eye can see.

The sad fact is that the mobile phone ecosystem in general is full of garbage. Neither Android nor iOS is exempt. But at least with Android I have freedom.

> How many times with an iPhone have I been expected to install a custom OS to get around a user-hostile feature like I saw about fifty times in the 1 billion outdated androids thread? Zero times.

That's because with an iPhone there are no custom OSes and you're stuck with Apple's user-hostile features.

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