You know it’s getting a bit ridiculous when hardware that hasn’t hit the streets is being rooted. That’s exactly what has happened, root access can now be achieved on the Nexus One. [Paul] found an exploit and packaged it nicely so that anyone can do it. We do wish he had shared the details of the exploit but we’re not complaining.
If you’re not in the know, the Nexus One is the fabled Google Phone now come to life. It’s slated for release in 2010 and some think that will be officially unveiled at a January 5th press conference. That’s right, unveiled. The device has been cracked yet it doesn’t officially exist. What it does do is join a growing number of rooted android phones.
[via Gizmodo]
“You know it’s getting a bit ridiculous when hardware that hasn’t hit the streets is being rooted.”
Doesn’t that mean it’s not going to be as secure anyway?
You did read stericson’s hint about it…
It did just work because the nexus he had his hands on had an engineering bootloader and the official one probably won’t have it.
yea, i am sure whatever exploit they used will be patched up before the phone hits the public
and when the phone does hit the public it will be rooted again
My motto is for all tech ,
If it can be read , played or listened to
It can be rooted copied and duped….there is no such thing as security…It all comes down if enough people want it to…
And I want it to :)
I guess my point was, It would have been nice if they kept their mouth shut for a little bit longer so they would have released millions of these things with the easy, known exploit.
If this exploit is patched before it even hits the streets, what good is it really doing
I’m guessing that like the Android Developer Phone (also available directly from Google), the Nexus One has a bootloader that will accept any image.
The magical “hack” is just a one line shell script that calls the fastboot reflashing utility.
Okay, I’m completely confused as to why being able to “root” a device that is running open source software can even be considered an accomplishment.
I mean, that’s like someone setting up Debian on an x86 machine and running “su -” with the root password they entered during setup, is it not?
Can someone explain to me why this is relevant?
“Okay, I’m completely confused as to why being able to “root” a device that is running open source software can even be considered an accomplishment.
…
Can someone explain to me why this is relevant?”
Because it’s a mainstream cellphone, which are universally prone to being locked down not so much by the manufacturers but by the demands of cellular providers.
Do you know anything about how cell phones work?
Security? Doesn’t exist my friends. If it’s made by man, it can be cracked, hacked and revamped by man.
Kinda goes side by side with the latest regarding the deciphered encryption algorithm of GSM: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/technology/29hack.html?_r=2
But cracked even before the official release? That’s like seeing a movie before it even hits theatres! ;)
“Because it’s a mainstream cellphone, which are universally prone to being locked down not so much by the manufacturers but by the demands of cellular providers.”
It’s an unlocked phone, there is no “provider”.
“Do you know anything about how cell phones work?”
I fail to see why this is relevant. If we are able to run software as we please, which, if I recall, is one of Android’s strong points, then “rooting” is a non-point.
@maus
That is dodging the question a bit. He isn’t asking why carriers would like to keep phones on their network locked, he was asking what the implications on an Android device would be specifically.
To answer the question, there are certain functions that are not accessible to the default user on Android, such as low-level hardware access and controlling some system services. Practically speaking, rooting can enable things like 3G tethering; and more ostensibly, editing files in the phone’s root filesystem.
The real-world uses for a rooted phone are pretty few for the average user, but some people want full control over their handset. In reality, rooting an Android device really just makes it easier to break the thing than allowing you to do anything your carrier is really going to get upset about.
ReKlipz – First of all These phones do have a provider, and technically any phone you by out of contract has to be unlocked upon request. these are just sold that way if not bought with the contract. unlocked is different then rooted. When you root the android device you have full access to modify it in anyway you want. Normal users do not have this. Providers feel ddos attacks etc will occur if rooted, also forces you to keep there crapware they want shipped, Which for me the HTC Droid Eris has several crapware on it i dont want. Amazon MP3 etc. Rooting would allow me to remove this. So unless you know what you are talking about how about you sit there and twiddle your thumbs and wait for a article you do know? k thx. P.S. no matter what the phone ships with the dev rom/spl can be flashed to it since the rom was leaked and is signed by htc.
So thank you loudmouths for screwing it for everyone
therian – nothing is ruined read once again. There is a leaked rom that will flash and allow this exploit reguardless of what google /htc does to modify it before/after they ship it.