Live data from Hacker News

Hacking Subaru: Tracking and controlling cars via the admin panel

samcurry.net

151–160 of 334 posts

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

#151

> 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…

It’s not the Starlink you’re thinking of, that’s Subaru’s name for their in-car infotaimnent system and predates the SpaceX Starlink. So it’s just Subaru. Also I doubt any ad partners can disable your car (outside of vulnerabilities like this). Subaru can but that’s the case with most modern vehicles.

Any partner that pays enough $$$ can likely do whatever they want. That is obvious by the fact that a year of driving history is displayed. If they didn't want to sell the data/access then they wouldn't be collecting such a long history of it. This is evil. I will avoid being forced to give this information at every possible turn and the companies doing this, and hiding how much they collect, should all be shut down.

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

#152
post #19

> I didn’t realize this data was being collected, but it seemed that we had agreed to the STARLINK enrollment when we purchased it. This is mind blowing to me.. Number 1 why you need a car connected to the internet all the time ? 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.

Because it has an SOS feature.

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

#153
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.

That’s likely more caused by the current 100% import tariff on Chinese EV’s.

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

#154
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…

Hmm this is really different than my experience with a 2018 Crosstrek, so maybe things have changed? When I bought it, Subaru was among the earlier CarPlay/Android Auto adopters (we specifically ruled out a new model year Prius because it lacked it and we couldn't wait a year to replace our totaled car just for CarPlay/AA), and other than a very rare issue where the head unit screen doesn't turn on, it's been pretty…

I noticed that too with CarPlay. Trying to pan around in Waze is impossible but doing it in Android Auto is very easy. The one nice thing about CarPlay Waze is that it allows keyboard input, Android Auto (at least in my Subaru) only allows for speech to text when searching locations.

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

#155
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…

i have such a subaru - the nav is a joke - the whole UX for their GUI is bad but the car seems mostly okay

recently got a mazda - seems generally better though I think most car interfaces are crap

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

#156
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a recent HN posting on the US banning Chinese car brands from being connected to the internet. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42706212 If Chinese companies comply with the ban by providing car models without internet connectivity, it's hilarious to me that that the nationalist regulation could make Chinese branded vehicles more desirable from a security & privacy standpoint.

The current 100% tariff on Chinese EV’s will negate that advantage for American consumers.

In the short term. In the medium term it just means that when they finally do break in they will demolish the incumbent. This is exactly what happened with the US auto industry in the 80. Protecting an industry with tariffs and legislation often makes that industry lazy and slow to innovate and eventually just kills it because they have forgotten how to compete.

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

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could do that with a key fob well before connected cars were a thing. People just choose to ignore the most basic of information

And car manufacturers are incentivized to remove such valuable and logical features. Enshittification abounds.

My Subaru supports remote start if you pay for the upgraded Starlink plan but if you want to do it from the keyfob, you have to buy some module and carry around an extra keyfob solely dedicated to remote start. It's a little ridiculous. They could have easily just made remote start something where you click and hold a button or whatever like any other car with that feature on the fob.

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

#159
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subaru infotainment is also very controlling. Want to use the keypad while you’re taking a phone call on the go? No, it won’t let you if the car is moving. You’ll need to use your phone’s UI. Other CarPlay cars don’t do this.

My 2017 Mazda with CarPlay does something similar. It truncates any lists (songs, podcast episodes, contacts, etc) that CarPlay displays to 10 items. All it does is incentivize folks to use their phone. It's incredibly annoying because the Mazda command dial for interacting with CarPlay is otherwise excellent and I don't think that limiting the list size does anything to reduce distraction.

I really like the dials some cars come with like BMWs. Subaru doesn’t have any dials at all unfortunately - just a touchscreen with really bad quality. The interface also often has buttons with very small size that make it hard to operate.

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

#160
post #19

> I didn’t realize this data was being collected, but it seemed that we had agreed to the STARLINK enrollment when we purchased it. This is mind blowing to me.. Number 1 why you need a car connected to the internet all the time ? 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.

All cars in Europe must be connected to the internet at all times by law, to determine their location, in case of an accident the law states.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/security-and-em...

In the US a bill was passed requiring driver impairment equipment on all vehicles and automatic deactivation of the vehicle if the driver is determined to be impaired. Current impairment technology monitors head and eye movement and/or blood or breath.

https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-402773429497

Post reply on HN