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Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

samcurry.net

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Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#61

Post by tedmielczarek »

aftbit wrote: post #49
bongodongobob wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's avg time to replace a battery.

Hmm really? My Camry made it nearly 10 years, and my Civic still had a good battery 6 years in when I sold it. Regardless, the battery and DCM were both tested by Subaru. The battery tested bad, and the DCM tested for a high parasitic draw. I drove the car daily, and the battery would die if I didn't drive it for 4 days. I didn't just make this up either, search "DCM parasitic draw" on Google for more. Subaru even se…

I've heard about this being a known issue with cars from other manufacturers, so I can believe it. It's interesting that nobody thought to include a way to let the vehicle know it should stop trying to communicate to handle a potential end-of-service situation like this. It's fairly common for people to keep cars for more than a decade, they're a really expensive necessity for many.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#62

Post by rtkwe »

bilekas wrote: post #27
jeroenhd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Number 1 why you need a car connected to the internet all the time To open the car with an app (programming against Bluetooth is harder than calling a web API), or honk the horn if you lost it in a large parking lot. > And how you're not required to sign at least 10 forms to confirm you understand that ALL of your travel data will be recorded and distributed at will. Legally speaking, I believe that depends on your…

> To open the car with an app (programming against Bluetooth is harder than calling a web API), or honk the horn if you lost it in a large parking lot I really hope this was sarcastic. How did we ever manage to find our cars before IoT cars …

You can also do other stuff like start the climate controls so the car is comfortable before you reach it on hot or cold days.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#63

Post by monitorlizard »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #56
duxup wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love my Subaru as far as reliability, all wheel drive performance in snow and ice, and such. But OMG it's consumer tech was dated when I bough it, and it's just full of inexplicable issues and caveats and such. Even just the limitations and the UX issues are so obvious that it sends a message that if they tried to fix them they would introduce just as many new issues. I'm at the point where despite the car being go…

yep... there was a tv ad for subaru vehicles a couple of years ago (not that long!), and during the ad, they showed the infotainment system, where the user pans the map on the navigation touchscreen, and the map moves at maybe 1fps! in an ad! I kinda wish they standardized the car interface for tablets (like android auto, but more features), where you could just buy a tablet and insert it in (like din slots for radio…

This is a genuinely good idea for a business that I think you should explore further if you have the bandwidth.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#64

Post by tedmielczarek »

potato3732842 wrote: post #57
_yb2s wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just take a weekend to fly to where used cars are unrusted, and drive one back? Also, there are quite a few well made older cars that are fully galvanized and don’t rust. I know a few people in the Northeast still driving 1980s Volvo 740s, still unrusted after nearly 40 years of salty roads. 1987 and later had the best rustproofing. I believe many older Audis also are galvanized.

The best galvanization was in the 80s when the OEMs were scrambling in the "surprise, lead just got banned" era (lead acts like an anode, think of it like a lesser version of a high zinc primer). That said, it's not the thick hot dip you see on I beams or on bolts at the hardware store and a modern car with modern coatings and attention to corrosion is still better. Of the three continents that produce a lot of cars…

Since Volvo was mentioned in the parent comment, did you know that if you buy a new Volvo you can get two free plane tickets to Gothenburg + one night's hotel stay to go pick it up at the Volvo factory? You can drive it around Europe for a while and then they will ship it back to the US for you. AFAIK it doesn't cost extra, it just adds some lead time as well as time waiting for your car to get to you after you fly home: https://www.volvocars.com/us/l/osd-tourist/

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#65

Post by bilekas »

rtkwe wrote: post #62
bilekas wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To open the car with an app (programming against Bluetooth is harder than calling a web API), or honk the horn if you lost it in a large parking lot I really hope this was sarcastic. How did we ever manage to find our cars before IoT cars …

You can also do other stuff like start the climate controls so the car is comfortable before you reach it on hot or cold days.

These things could certainly be convenient, de-icing while you're having breakfast etc but surely you don't need my location data recorded for those services ?

Maybe if there was a list of options I could select from then I guess it's fine.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#66

Post by bongodongobob »

aftbit wrote: post #49
bongodongobob wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's avg time to replace a battery.

Hmm really? My Camry made it nearly 10 years, and my Civic still had a good battery 6 years in when I sold it. Regardless, the battery and DCM were both tested by Subaru. The battery tested bad, and the DCM tested for a high parasitic draw. I drove the car daily, and the battery would die if I didn't drive it for 4 days. I didn't just make this up either, search "DCM parasitic draw" on Google for more. Subaru even se…

Maybe I'm used to harsher weather in the Midwest.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#67

Post by bilekas »

beezle wrote: post #59
jeroenhd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Number 1 why you need a car connected to the internet all the time To open the car with an app (programming against Bluetooth is harder than calling a web API), or honk the horn if you lost it in a large parking lot. > And how you're not required to sign at least 10 forms to confirm you understand that ALL of your travel data will be recorded and distributed at will. Legally speaking, I believe that depends on your…

Just as an aside - a friend had their car nicked in NYC this winter. He was able to tell the cops the car location from some Toyota find my car type thing. The cops said they saw nothing on the street so unless he could come and make the horn beep infront of a garage - and then get a warrant - there was nothing more to do. He now has a new vehicle.

I'm starting to come around to the idea in general actually with all the comments promoting the benefits. I still don't see why travel locations need to be recorded though. A pining service would suffice if it was always connected.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#68

Post by dylan604 »

aftbit wrote: post #29
like_any_other wrote: post #2

> After reporting the vulnerability, the affected system was patched within 24 hours and never exploited maliciously. So 'only' Subaru, Starlink, their business and advertising partners, and law enforcement, can remotely track (and disable - don't think you can run from the law!) your car? > I didn’t realize this data was being collected, but it seemed that we had agreed to the STARLINK enrollment when we purchased i…

I was lucky to have the DCM in my 2019 Outback (which is responsible for cellular communication and thus this whole STARLINK thing) replaced with a bypass box under the warranty program related to the end of 3G service. My car was trying to go online 30 times an hour or something like that, draining the battery enough that it needed to be replaced after just 4 years. They don't have enough new DCMs so they were willi…

> So at least my Subaru cannot connect to the cloud anymore.

Sounds like something you can use to justify a higher selling price when the time comes

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#69

Post by Cumpiler69 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #55
gedy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I think it depends on the number and position of Indian folks. Small numbers where you deal with people individually, I've not seen issues and it's nice to work with Indian devs. In larger numbers or when in charge of hiring, there seems to be a prevalent issue of Indian cultural norms and favors kicking in and it can happen fast.

Monocultures are almost always bad, if nothing else they are a signal that you aren't hiring on merit.

>Monocultures are almost always bad

Depends on the culture, the size of the team, the product you're working on and the target demographic.

Re: Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

#70

Post by longtimelistnr »

t0bia_s wrote: post #43

Imagine that manufacturer can do that without any hacks and your knowledge about data collecting. Now imagine that you sell those cars to foreign countries that your government consider as enemy. I'm curious when there will be some ban of car brand, like TikTok.

Isn't this already in place? I thought this is exactly why Chinese EV's haven't flooded the market yet.
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