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What would it take to resolve the unlocked bootloader vector? I've been interested in LineageOS, but not enough to carry around a phone with an unlocked bootlo

What would it take to resolve the unlocked bootloader vector? I've been interested in LineageOS, but not enough to carry around a phone with an unlocked bootloader.

veeti 9y ago
Buy a Pixel which supports running custom images with a locked bootloader and verified boot.
zifnab06 9y ago
This is actually a problem that bothers me. Most of the recoveries also ship with absolutely no security (see: twrp and the "I can just format your phone by booting into it"). I don't really have a good answer though - if you lock a bootloader, even with a secured recovery image, and that image breaks, you're stuck forever. Without a huge QA effort (that doesn't work for an open source project like this), I don't think there's much we could do sadly :( In actual OEM land they do a build and test it for weeks/months before releasing it, we just...build things and ship them.
- squiggleblaz 9y ago
  Can you clarify for me? Why might the image break after I've locked it? Why can't I just unlock it again? What are the consequences of this? I'd like to run Lineage but so far I'm unclear of the unanticipated negatives.
  - zifnab06 9y ago
    By default, after an update, Android installs a new recovery image during the first boot of that update. We currently have this disabled. If you relock the only way to ever update your recovery image is to unlock (wiping the device & losing encryption keys), flash a new image, and relock. This would need to happen for any discovered kernel exploit (read: about once a month) to avoid having an insecure device. If the update feature's enabled, there's a chance that after an upgrade, recovery gets updated to a version that no longer boots. We don't QA every build like you see from an actual OEM, they're provided as nightly builds (on a weekly basis). One bug and your expensive device is now a brick.

What would it take to resolve the unlocked bootloader vector? I've been interested in LineageOS, but not enough to carry around a phone with an unlocked bootloader.

veeti 9y ago

Buy a Pixel which supports running custom images with a locked bootloader and verified boot.

zifnab06 9y ago

This is actually a problem that bothers me. Most of the recoveries also ship with absolutely no security (see: twrp and the "I can just format your phone by booting into it"). I don't really have a good answer though - if you lock a bootloader, even with a secured recovery image, and that image breaks, you're stuck forever. Without a huge QA effort (that doesn't work for an open source project like this), I don't think there's much we could do sadly :( In actual OEM land they do a build and test it for weeks/months before releasing it, we just...build things and ship them.

squiggleblaz 9y ago
Can you clarify for me? Why might the image break after I've locked it? Why can't I just unlock it again? What are the consequences of this? I'd like to run Lineage but so far I'm unclear of the unanticipated negatives.
- zifnab06 9y ago
  By default, after an update, Android installs a new recovery image during the first boot of that update. We currently have this disabled. If you relock the only way to ever update your recovery image is to unlock (wiping the device & losing encryption keys), flash a new image, and relock. This would need to happen for any discovered kernel exploit (read: about once a month) to avoid having an insecure device. If the update feature's enabled, there's a chance that after an upgrade, recovery gets updated to a version that no longer boots. We don't QA every build like you see from an actual OEM, they're provided as nightly builds (on a weekly basis). One bug and your expensive device is now a brick.