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Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

matan-h.com

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Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#301

Post by dr_kiszonka »

scarface_74 wrote: post #280
Steuard wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we revealing our age through exploits now? How about "using gopher on a university library terminal to access a site that launched a telnet session so you can check your out-of-state college email over the summer"?

Been there done that. https://www.nyx.net/ Allowed free shell accounts and the college board in GA offered free local dialup access to a Gopher server (Peachnet). I had a terminal script that navigated through the Gopher menu until I could get to Nyx.

Wow - they still host user websites, some of which are from the 90's, with iframes, patterned backgrounds, etc. So cool.

https://www.nyx.net/userhomes.html

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#302

Post by 8organicbits »

blagie wrote: post #258
lima wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a security researcher, I have to disagree - there's many things to criticize Google for, but "cavalier attitude to security" isn't one of them. Their security teams are industry-leading and they have done a lot of important work over the past decade (Project Zero, a very well-done bug bounty program, Advanced Protection, FIDO/hardware security keys, large-scale fuzzing and AFL, tons of behind the scenes sandboxing…

> Their security teams are industry-leading and they have done a lot of important work over the past decade (Project Zero, a very well-done bug bounty program, Advanced Protection, FIDO/hardware security keys, large-scale fuzzing and AFL, tons of behind the scenes sandboxing work, Linux kernel hardening...). I have to agree. Google has O(200k) employees, and included among those, are some of the best security people…

> I wanted to collect records, go to the police, and have the criminal arrested.

That's not really how it works. The police can subpoena Google for the records, they won't trust audit logs you provide. Just file a police report if this is a real issue.

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#303

Post by matan-h »

type0 wrote: post #286
Kailhus wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that neither news or “secret”. Nice find though

It probably was news for many of HN readers. Hidden would be a right term, I suspect that English isn't Matans native language

correct

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#304

Post by matan-h »

jonluca wrote: post #216

Side note - I built a tool to help detect non-default javascript variables attached to the global scope https://github.com/jonluca/Window-Differ to aid in security analysis like this. Would be pretty nice to have in devtools

Very cool ! To ensure there is only one JavaScript interface, I edit hackability to be without popups and print, then host it. Your tool sound easier. https://portswigger-labs.net/hackability

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#305

Post by jabradoodle »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #281
jabradoodle wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comment said the restrictions belong on the network being connected to, which is useless when you can connect else where. Yes not giving your kids access to a device is one option; parental controls are another. I'm not sure either will work entirely, but that's another point.

And locking down the primary device a kid has access to creates the lure of the forbidden; that won't last any longer than their access to another device without those restrictions. That also creates an environment where if they do find something they really ought to be able to talk an adult about, they can't talk to a parent about it because they'll be in trouble (and get their friends in trouble). One of the widely…

Sure, as I said:

>I'm not sure either will work entirely, but that's another point

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#306

Post by lifeonlars »

dgellow wrote: post #269
bmicraft wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but how is this news then? The Google settings have never felt native and therefore were almost certainly a browser for a very long time now

Why does it have to be news? Someone wanted to share what they found, that’s what personal blogs are for. Nothing more.

"Hacker News"

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#307

Post by lkois »

bsimpson wrote: post #63

I used to do the same thing in the lobby while my parents were banking. Those "best viewed in Netscape Navigator" tags were golden for this. Workflow was almost exactly the same: click through until you get a "best viewed in" tag and get from there to a search engine.

I've used this to get to a browser that almost does full screen videos in a borrowed Tesla, from the YouTube app.

Then navigated to some dodgy adware infested streaming site and it was working okay until changing to another video, when it froze the whole Tesla computer and the car needed a hard reboot

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#308

Post by OrangeMusic »

bmicraft wrote: post #200
tweakor wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what this is. It's Android System Webview, the embedded browser that apps use when they aren't a browser themselves.

Sorry, but how is this news then? The Google settings have never felt native and therefore were almost certainly a browser for a very long time now

Yeah to be honest the presence of this article on the Best section of HN makes it look a lot more interesting than it really is. It's just a WebView...

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#309

Post by mavhc »

msephton wrote: post #57

My brother uses a similar trick to get to a browser to bypass login on locked Android devices. It blows my mind that they can't see the security implications of this.

A similar trick must be used when resetting some old Android devices, can't set up account because date/time is wrong, can't set date/time because still on set up account screen

Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings

#310

Post by Ntrails »

toast0 wrote: post #247
Steuard wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we revealing our age through exploits now? How about "using gopher on a university library terminal to access a site that launched a telnet session so you can check your out-of-state college email over the summer"?

I definitely didn't use the open dialog in Notepad to run other executables at the library.

Heck, in the last 5 years I've used this to create and run bat files on supposedly locked down citrix boxes :D
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