And for people giving ways to prevent it, can you please provide some context for those of us who aren't OS experts?
If you must use zoom, use it in a browser; uninstall their app.
I didn't know that Zoom allowed that. Thank you.
Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
51–60 of 277 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#52Would it be better if run in a vm?
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#53> Is there any way to prevent it?
I prevent it by running Zoom in a VM on Qubes OS.
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#54> Is there any way to prevent it? Hook the stat, openat, readlink functions within the zoom process, experiment with blocking (returning failure) based on arguments.
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Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you must use zoom, use it in a browser; uninstall their app.
I must have uninstalled their app on my Macbook ten times now but somehow it keeps coming back. I’ll click a link to join a meeting and the app launches.
> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28210076
They recover the app from your backups if available when launching. Try appCleaner or something like that, and you might need to delete it from any TimeMachine backups too, lol
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#56Zoom has a popular feature which allows for screen sharing a single application window instead of the entire desktop. I assume this is how its discovering running applications with GUI windows open in a cross-platform manner. Perhaps there is a better API for this? Its not a common use-case that an app would need to know all of the other open windows, but it seems like a perfectly valid use case, and frankly handy fo…
Does Teams do this in the same way? They offer the same feature
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can call in by phone
They are picky about making sure everyone uses a camera.
Then I guess your IT department or your management is happy to share your work computer's content with Zoom. I see three paths:
- Resort to use Zoom in a browser, maybe from a separate profile
- If this does not work for you, use Zoom from a virtual machine (it should be possible by exporting the camera likely connected by USB to the VM)
- If you'd like to avoid a VM because it's heavy / annoying, I'm not sure there's an easy solution without learning how to use namespaces and unshare.
Additionally, and optionally:
- Gently campaign against Zoom or for a better solution internally.
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#58> Is there any way to prevent it?
Do what I do: Run it on a burner computer connected to your guest network.
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#59> Is there any way to prevent it?
Mounting /proc with "hidepid=2" should prevent it from seeing processes owned by other users, although it would still be able to see your processes.
Alternatively, it shouldn't be too hard to create an AppArmor profile that blocks access to /proc.
Other options might include things like SELinux, seccomp-bpf, namespaces, cgroups, etc., depending on what's available on your host.
Or you could just, you know, obliterate it from your system altogether. That's almost certainly the best option.
Re: Ask HN: Why does Zoom Desktop examine all processes and arguments?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Elaborate please
‘Zoom is malware’: why experts worry about the video conferencing platform https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/zoom-tech... Zoom banned from New York City schools due to privacy and security flaws https://www.fastcompany.com/90486586/zoom-banned-from-new-yo... Google Told Its Workers That They Can’t Use Zoom On Their Laptops Anymore https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/google-bans... Elon M…
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm not sure that last one is zoom's fault. It sounds like Zoom is just calling ShellExecute("open", link), and is getting blamed for the fact that Windows will then connect to random server on public internet and can be convinced to send a hash of the password that can be used to forge a different connection from a different host/client pair with the same credentials.