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Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

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Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#31

Post by mschuster91 »

urthor wrote: post #19
phreack wrote: post #11

I can't believe this is not a "drop everything and get it fixed ASAP" bug. This makes me think there's probably tons of other similar bugs out there being exploited right now even with disclosure.

I forget which Pixel generation. For one generation Google I believe never shipped the ability to unlock your phone with your face. Despite having all the hardware on the phone, it just didn't have the feature. This was a serious feature deficit viz a viz the relevant iPhone at the time. The gossip was, the feature was finished, completely. Had to be ripped out after external pen-testing bypassed it with Facebook pho…

> This was a serious feature deficit viz a viz the relevant iPhone at the time.

IIRC, the iPhone uses not just a photo from the selfie cam, but adds infrared to construct a sort-of-3d-ish depth map of your face as well - that is what defeats a simple attempt at unlocking with photos.

Now, the really interesting thing to research is if a silicone molded face mask could be used to fool the iPhone into unlocking. Photos or videos of the subject in multiple angles should be enough to create a decent enough 3D face copy.

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#32

Post by username_my1 »

sschueller wrote: post #27
endisneigh wrote: post #20

This is a great example of why you should use iOS. Most android devices do not receive security updates long enough to get this update. Since the author effectively tells you how to do it, all you need to do is find a pixel 4 or older and you’re golden.

It's also a great example why not to use iOS. If you find a hardware flaw in an iPhone and it can't be patched then literally everyone is effected. Even worse is if Apple decides you can no longer use feature/app, it's gone. Fragmentation has it's issues but centralisation is way worse.

except apple takes bug fixes and security 100x more than google does.

I remember the Android nightmares of Camera1 Camera2 CameraX APIs, then bluetooth all buggy implementation with years passing by and no decent solution in place.

I don't remember a single big bug by iOS

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#34

Post by foverzar »

urthor wrote: post #19
phreack wrote: post #11

I can't believe this is not a "drop everything and get it fixed ASAP" bug. This makes me think there's probably tons of other similar bugs out there being exploited right now even with disclosure.

I forget which Pixel generation. For one generation Google I believe never shipped the ability to unlock your phone with your face. Despite having all the hardware on the phone, it just didn't have the feature. This was a serious feature deficit viz a viz the relevant iPhone at the time. The gossip was, the feature was finished, completely. Had to be ripped out after external pen-testing bypassed it with Facebook pho…

> Despite having all the hardware on the phone

Did Pixel phones really have a frontal lidar?

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#35

Post by AuthorizedCust »

urthor wrote: post #19
phreack wrote: post #11

I can't believe this is not a "drop everything and get it fixed ASAP" bug. This makes me think there's probably tons of other similar bugs out there being exploited right now even with disclosure.

I forget which Pixel generation. For one generation Google I believe never shipped the ability to unlock your phone with your face. Despite having all the hardware on the phone, it just didn't have the feature. This was a serious feature deficit viz a viz the relevant iPhone at the time. The gossip was, the feature was finished, completely. Had to be ripped out after external pen-testing bypassed it with Facebook pho…

Pixel is on generation 7. Only two supported face unlock: 4 and 7.

6 was rumored to have it, but it was never delivered.

6 and 7 are equivalent hardware-wise for face unlock: neither has the sensors to do it in a highly secure manner. 7’s face unlock therefore doesn’t give you access to the most sensitive stuff, like bank accounts, requiring supplemental, secure authentication, such as fingerprint.

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#36

Post by whizzter »

kaimalcolm wrote: post #24

Appalling handling on Google’s end here. The duplicate issue part I can understand, but why should it take two reports of a critical vulnerability to take action? Surely when the first one comes through it’s something you jump on, fix and push out ASAP, not give delay to the point where a second user can come along, find the bug, and report it. The refactor that’s mentioned towards the end of the article is great, bu…

Reporting and investigation matters. Perhaps the initial report was only on the bypass of the lock-screen but the initial report only ran into the decrypted phone state so it was dismissed as not being exploitable (see other comments), whilst the second report actually got inside an active phone (And then was also written up in a simple, concise and reproducible way).

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#37

Post by robertwt7 »

phreack wrote: post #11

I can't believe this is not a "drop everything and get it fixed ASAP" bug. This makes me think there's probably tons of other similar bugs out there being exploited right now even with disclosure.

yeah right? after the article mentioned that he waited 2 months, I was already shocked, then he mentioned 3 months, and so on.. sometimes it's just annoying to report something really important and still you don't get enough attention.

Re: Accidental Google Pixel Lock Screen Bypass

#38

Post by sschueller »

username_my1 wrote: post #32
sschueller wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a great example why not to use iOS. If you find a hardware flaw in an iPhone and it can't be patched then literally everyone is effected. Even worse is if Apple decides you can no longer use feature/app, it's gone. Fragmentation has it's issues but centralisation is way worse.

except apple takes bug fixes and security 100x more than google does. I remember the Android nightmares of Camera1 Camera2 CameraX APIs, then bluetooth all buggy implementation with years passing by and no decent solution in place. I don't remember a single big bug by iOS

From what I have heard, they may fix thing quickly but their bug bounty program is not liked and they skimp on paying higher payouts.

Much more lukrative to sell your exploit on the black market.

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