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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: March 19th, 2024

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  • OTA, as of right now, needs to hash the device to prevent system corruption. I don’t think it’s a very simple problem to solve, or surely there would be a ROM out there that does fix it with root. A better fix would be a package manager, but that’s not going to happen with AOSP.

    Regarding #1, it’s fundamental to AOSP, and not any particular ROM. Similar to the OTA issue above. It’s not just graphene (which, technically, you can root fyi, but I really would not do so, as again it defeats the purpose of running a verified boot secured phone).

    #2 is debatable, because it’s also highly dependent on the distro and configuration. As an example, immutable distros (which are actually closer to Android than non-immutable distros) make it so sudo/root isn’t needed very often, if at all. Fedora CoreOS, for example, can run package updates on a schedule without user intervention, use rootless containers, and do verified boot. It can be deployed from a single file and validate itself after the fact, meaning a user would never be prompted for a password at any point. Obviously that’s not a 1:1 because it isn’t made for PC usage, but other distros based on Fedora Silverblue and the like can be more secure than standard Linux for similar reasons. Everything is generally sandboxed (flatpaks and containers) and root is rarely, if ever, required.

    That being said, if you’re not concerned, there isn’t anything stopping you aside from your phone’s manufacturer, which I’m sure you’re aware of. I’m fine just knowing that I could do it, and much prefer the security benefits of verified boot and proper sandboxing above all else. I don’t trust Google to properly patch zero days related to rooted phones, let alone patch the ones that affected non rooted devices.


  • Android does not have the same security model as desktop Linux. I made a comment about this above (which you probably can’t see due to .world being defederated with who I replied to), but if you don’t want to go to my comment history, it’s summed up as three or so main issues.

    Rooting breaks OTA updates since it modifies your partition hash, meaning rooted users tend to leave security holes open way too long. Android does not have a package manager for you to be able to update these issues individually.

    Android does not expect users to have root access, so they do not even consider it in the design. Android sandboxes apps, and apps can only generally have permissions that you grant, with no direct access to the kernel. However, rooting adds an entirely new attack surface for which there are no protections whatsoever. Desktop Linux, on the other hand, does expect users to need root level access from time to time. That’s what sudo is for, but you should not confuse this with switching your user entirely to root and doing everything as root. There’s a reason that’s not recommended on Linux: it’s dangerous. The same thing applies to Android. On top of that, Linux has other tools and protections designed to make running as sudoer safer, and Android has none.

    Finally, it breaks your ability to use proper verified boot. If your system partions silently get malware installed, there’s generally no way for a user with a rooted phone to notice. Verified boot protects against this, but because rooting (along with whatever else you’re running as root) changes your partition hashes, it will either stop booting or revert your changes.

    If mobile Linux ever takes off, it will likely be very similar to desktop Linux and be designed with root in mind.


  • Pixels are (currently) the only phones that allow for all of the following at once:

    • Proper verified boot
    • Bootloader unlocking (this is most important for any custom ROM installation, regardless of ROM)
    • Hardware memory tagging
    • Full hardware isolation
    • Hardware key attestation
    • Ability to disable USB data (and also USB entirely) at the hardware level
    • Everything else on this list

    In short, it’s simply because Pixel currently has the most hardware level security features of any Android phone (on top of bootloader unlocking), for now. The Graphene team is allegedly in talks with an OEM to produce a phone specifically designed for it, which may be just as or even more secure. Time will tell.

    I feel the need to mention that I’m not trying to shill for Graphene and especially not Google. Depending on your threat model and goal, Lineage or similar might be just fine for you. I just don’t think there’s anything more secure than GOS at the moment, and if that is important to you, along with minimizing bloat, it’s a great choice. I do highly recommend avoiding root and instead just get something that you can unlock the bootloader for, and then install a degoogled ROM. Just make sure you don’t accidentally buy a permanently locked phone, make sure it says unlocked somewhere in the listing.















  • I’d love to switch. I would do it right now, but the problem is that Jellyfin’s security isn’t better if you open it up to the internet. For example, I’d have to set up a VPN for my remote users for proper security, and most of my users are in other states, not technically inclined, and watch on their TVs. I’d have to at least support a raspberry pi for them, or some sort of site to site VPN, and if it goes down, I’ll be expected to fix it. On top of that, if I do a simple raspberry pi based VPN, it would be made even more complicated since they’d want it to work with their smart TVs.

    Again, I really want to switch. But Jellyfin needs to fix their security issues before I can. I’m also happy with the way Plex is reporting this, it’s above the standard “your data is lost” notifications.

    Edit: here’s a link to the related GitHub issue I’ve been following: https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/issues/5415

    And @[email protected] has a great thread explaining more: https://lemmy.today/comment/18923504