5 ms·

Bypassing the HTC One lockscreen during restart

30 points by youssefsarhan 13y ago

Zhenya 13y ago
Did you contact HTC to help them?
PetrolMan 13y ago
I can't reproduce this on stock Android. I'd also like to see what happens shortly afterwards. The video cuts off a bit abruptly and I'm curious to see if you can maintain access or whether it kicks you back out to the the lock screen after initialization is complete. The text was also changed just a minute ago to remove a plug for HyperCube. The original text included something along the lines of "Clearly there are big problems with Android, which is why we started HyperCube..."
Danieru 13y ago
Could a mod amend the title so it mentions the vulnerability is in HTC's android distro and not AOSP?
wlk 13y ago
There are many errors in Android security, this is one that I have found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkdbMv0lNMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkdbMv0lNMc (TLDR: just remove your SIM card when screen is off to unlock, works on Anrdoid 4.0.3 with Acer Iconia Tab A511) Edit: I wonder if someone with tablet could try to reproduce that?
- cstrat 13y ago
  Odd bug, must be a SIM related PIN on the device...
AtlasLion 13y ago
Does not work on my SGS3, not sure if it is because I am using Cyanogen mod or because I have a sim pincode activated, that needs to be entered before the pattern unlock screen.
gregoryw 13y ago
If you're using the swipe-to-unlock, you've already lost. Use a strong password, which serves as entropy for encrypting the disk (and check that option).
Oletros 13y ago
This is not critical Android Lockscreen Bypass, this is HTC One Lockscreen Bypass
iamben 13y ago
This is more of an HTC problem than an Android one, right? Calling it Android is a little misleading. As an aside, I'm so glad to have stock Android - I really don't miss the days of all the vendor and network 'extras'.
sjm-lbm 13y ago
I was unable to reproduce this using a Sprint HTC One running the newest software release (Android 4.3, HTC SW Version 3.04.651.2) - admittedly, timing does seem tight, but I tired it several times before giving up. It'd be interesting to know if this is just something that HTC has already fixed, or if it is somehow related to a carrier-specific modification.
devx 13y ago
HTC may have fixed it with the latest update: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1og2h8/critical_androidhtc_one_lockscreen_bypass/ http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1og2h8/critical_and...
philtar 13y ago
Doesn't work on HTC One running Android 4.2.2
dredwerker 13y ago
Can't recreate it on my Australian HTC One with 4.2.2
captainmuon 13y ago
I never saw the lock screen as a serious protection mechanism, but more like a screensaver, mainly to protect me from pocket-dialing. For me, its more like the key lock on old dumbphones than like the pin code lock. And since even the pin lock was trivial to bypass by law enforcement or professional criminals (you could buy special devices to unlock the phones), I don't expect that my phone has any really serious protection. I know iOS devices are harder, but I'd expect the police or serious criminals to be able to crack my Android phone in seconds. Which is ok, as long as I'm aware of it. Of course, if my phones lock does turn out to be safe, thats great.

30 points by youssefsarhan 13y ago

Did you contact HTC to help them?

I can't reproduce this on stock Android. I'd also like to see what happens shortly afterwards. The video cuts off a bit abruptly and I'm curious to see if you can maintain access or whether it kicks you back out to the the lock screen after initialization is complete. The text was also changed just a minute ago to remove a plug for HyperCube. The original text included something along the lines of "Clearly there are big problems with Android, which is why we started HyperCube..."

Danieru 13y ago

Could a mod amend the title so it mentions the vulnerability is in HTC's android distro and not AOSP?

wlk 13y ago

There are many errors in Android security, this is one that I have found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkdbMv0lNMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkdbMv0lNMc (TLDR: just remove your SIM card when screen is off to unlock, works on Anrdoid 4.0.3 with Acer Iconia Tab A511) Edit: I wonder if someone with tablet could try to reproduce that?

cstrat 13y ago
Odd bug, must be a SIM related PIN on the device...

AtlasLion 13y ago

Does not work on my SGS3, not sure if it is because I am using Cyanogen mod or because I have a sim pincode activated, that needs to be entered before the pattern unlock screen.

gregoryw 13y ago

If you're using the swipe-to-unlock, you've already lost. Use a strong password, which serves as entropy for encrypting the disk (and check that option).

Oletros 13y ago

This is not critical Android Lockscreen Bypass, this is HTC One Lockscreen Bypass

iamben 13y ago

This is more of an HTC problem than an Android one, right? Calling it Android is a little misleading. As an aside, I'm so glad to have stock Android - I really don't miss the days of all the vendor and network 'extras'.

sjm-lbm 13y ago

I was unable to reproduce this using a Sprint HTC One running the newest software release (Android 4.3, HTC SW Version 3.04.651.2) - admittedly, timing does seem tight, but I tired it several times before giving up. It'd be interesting to know if this is just something that HTC has already fixed, or if it is somehow related to a carrier-specific modification.

devx 13y ago

HTC may have fixed it with the latest update: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1og2h8/critical_androidhtc_one_lockscreen_bypass/ http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1og2h8/critical_and...

philtar 13y ago

Doesn't work on HTC One running Android 4.2.2

dredwerker 13y ago

Can't recreate it on my Australian HTC One with 4.2.2

captainmuon 13y ago

I never saw the lock screen as a serious protection mechanism, but more like a screensaver, mainly to protect me from pocket-dialing. For me, its more like the key lock on old dumbphones than like the pin code lock. And since even the pin lock was trivial to bypass by law enforcement or professional criminals (you could buy special devices to unlock the phones), I don't expect that my phone has any really serious protection. I know iOS devices are harder, but I'd expect the police or serious criminals to be able to crack my Android phone in seconds. Which is ok, as long as I'm aware of it. Of course, if my phones lock does turn out to be safe, thats great.