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Posted by shscs911 16 hours ago

Android May Soon Restrict On-Device ADB(kitsumed.github.io)
823 points | 393 commentspage 6
minraws 10 hours ago|
And I might soon restrict use of Android and iOS in my life. Because of this nonsense, how will I get around the app issue is something I am still trying to figure out but I won't pay money to companies that make my products(I own them after I bought them) worse bit by bit anymore.
smolder 14 hours ago||
RIP phones
ktosobcy 8 hours ago||
I'm sorry but F* Google.

They started with "we love open" and when became virtual monopoly they extort the position :/

qphe95 9 hours ago||
Another day of AI another day of AI not being able to maintain useful features people used to take for granted
xg15 13 hours ago||
> Scenario 3: A Developer Using ADB over TCP/IP

- You install a malicious application.

- You enable USB debugging, starting ADBD.

- You connect via USB ADB to enable TCP/IP, then disconnect the USB cable.

- ADBD continues running and listens on all network interfaces.

- The application initiates a connection, causing an authorization prompt to appear on the screen. If the user selects No, the connection is rejected. No silent exploitation attempts are possible.

I understand the author's rationale and think the reasons why that whole ecosystem is accessing ADB are legitimate - but I have some questions here.

The above flow is basically what apps that use Shizuku have to do as well, right? Only that in that case, the user would deliberately install the app and have the knowledge it uses ADB features and therefore would also confirm the permission prompt.

However, ADBD in this situation only sees a connection attempt, not which app made the attempt, right?

So it also cannot remember that a particular app was already authorized by the user and has to display the prompt again on each connection attempt?

Does that mean that a Shizuku-enabled app would prompt the user again for ADB access any time it's started?

This seems honestly like Shizuku itself would increase the risk of a user granting ADB access to a bad actor (i.e. a second app or external connection that is different from the app the user wanted to authorize).

Thinking of "scenario 3" if a Shizuku-enabled app is already running on the device and something else wants to connect to ADB:

- I'm assuming a malicious app was already installed (without privileges) or something tries to connect to port 5555 from outside or via proxyware.

- ADBD is already running and listening for TCP to serve the Shizuku app, so those steps can be taken for granted.

- The malicious app or connection triggers a permission prompt from ADBD. However, by that time, the user has grown used to those prompts, because the Shizuku triggers them frequently, so they are more likely to select "yes".

If ADBD has no information about who is connecting, it also can't show any meaningful information in the prompt. So it cannot really help the user distinguish prompts from the legitimate Shizuku app from malicious prompts. A user still has the timing and context to distinguish prompts, i.e. prompts that appear out of the blue when they aren't using the app are suspicious.

kitsumed 5 hours ago|
> However, ADBD in this situation only sees a connection attempt, not which app made the attempt, right?

Every ADB connection has some kind of certificate / key that is saved locally. This means that a new application would have a different certificate. That certificate is shown in the yes/no prompt.

> Does that mean that a Shizuku-enabled app would prompt the user again for ADB access any time it's started?

You can tell android to remember that certificate and allow the connection next time. There is a bug that make it not work on certains specific version of Android 12 I think, but outside of that, it always works.

xg15 4 hours ago||
Ah, that makes more sense and then of course the scenario would not work that way. Thanks for clearing that up!
MaskNinja 8 hours ago||
...why? Android is the holy grail of freedom, since iOS never was. It's gotten worse since ~2024, despite the lawsuit.

Or maybe Google is genuinely about thinking this in good faith. I can't see how, though.

shevy-java 12 hours ago||
These are not accidents. Google declared total war against open source. You only need to remember how it declared war against ublock origin. In the long run this will also fail, but until then Google causes a lot of damage. Legislation needs to control this tyrant but unfortunately the oligarchs run the country of the mad orange king right now.

Louis Rossman will have a field day with Google here. I think it is time to end Evil - that is, to end Google. This company serves no more useful purpose on this planet anymore.

userbinator 13 hours ago||
It's frankly amazing how many Google developers will associate their real identities and contact info with such hostility, believing they're invincible.

Perhaps they should be subjected to the full force of the First Amendment.

tarpitt 6 hours ago||
I'm more curious to see how the second ammendment could factor into this.
_davide_ 11 hours ago||
lol, keep hoping
ur-whale 11 hours ago||
To quote Scott McNealy, then CEO of Sun microsystems, circa 1999:

"You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it".

It has become truer every year that has passed since then.

The 2026 version : "If you believe you will be allowed to keep any kind of control over the devices you "own", you are deluding yourself".

ignoramous 14 hours ago|
The article overlooks security implications from spyware, which is a huge problem not only for financial applications, but personal safety, too [0].

Per FTC, a stalkerware will: geo locate, read call list & record calls, read notifications, texts, & possibly emails, access gallery, camera, & files, and monitor network activity. [1]

You could do all of those with "on-device adb" (in some cases, with just the appropriate permissions), without root access. Stalkerware & financial fraud enabled merely due to the scale & reach of Android (half of humanity uses it!) and lack of basic security literacy warrants such protective measures, as (Thaler & Sunstein would like to remind us) defaults matter.

With conspiracies abound, we must not lose sight of tech safety and related issues, which almost exclusively affect the most vulnerable & the most disadvantaged.

[0] https://www.techsafety.org/spyware-and-stalkerware-phone-sur...

[1] https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/stalkerware-what-know

kitsumed 5 hours ago||
Spyware using ADB could be a thing (assuming someone has full access to your phone, including the password). However, it is impractical, as a reboot, system update, or Wi-Fi change would likely break everything.

It is much easier for spyware to be installed as a device administrator, granted accessibility privileges, and then given every possible Android permission via AppOps as a one-time setup.

At that point, ADB no longer matters. The spyware is already configured and ready to run. Even if on-device ADB were patched, anyone with physical access to the phone would still be able to install and configure their spyware via a USB cable.

As for attacks without physical access, as explained in the article with the 3 scenario, this is neither practical nor realistic. It only affects a very small subset of users (primarily Android developers) under very specific circumstances and during limited time windows.

ignoramous 4 hours ago||
> spyware to be installed as a device administrator, granted accessibility privileges, and then given every possible Android permission via AppOps

Correct, and apps using these setups (even for genuine reasons) have been under the cosh.

> At that point, ADB no longer matters.

"on-device adb" wasn't meant for scenarios it is being used for (via Shizuku, for example). It is a pointless attack surface.

> anyone with physical access to the phone would still be able to install and configure their spyware via a USB cable.

This same case can be made in support of removing on-device adb. Anyone with physical access can install & configure for their use cases. If you claim that's more hassle than worth, then you have your answer (that is, added hassle for stalkerware sellers, too).

Disallowing on-device adb is restrictive (I co-develop a security app that can absolutely make more from elevated permissions, via Shizuku or Device Admin; let alone root), but I don't think Google will do so because they want to close Android (the platform) more than they need to. To me, given the very human costs of stalkerware & financial fraud, it is an understandable, even if disappointing, security decision. Otoh, I do get that the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

zb3 6 hours ago||
> Per FTC, a stalkerware will: geo locate, read call list & record calls, read notifications, texts, & possibly emails, access gallery, camera, & files, and monitor network activity.

Like Google Mobile Services on stock Android?

ignoramous 5 hours ago||
No.
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