3 ms·
This seems to firmly be in the realm of "eh, working as intended, who cares". The charging port cover, as far as I know, isn't a security mechanism, and it ope
by TheDong 5y ago
This seems to firmly be in the realm of "eh, working as intended, who cares".
The charging port cover, as far as I know, isn't a security mechanism, and it opening is just a matter of user convenience. Having an easy protocol to open it means that a third-party charger can open it automatically to be inserted more easily, so that seems fine.
Even if they did require some sort of signed message from the charger, since anyone can buy a "wall connector" charger for home the private key would already be out there (unless a visitor had to pair their per-car key before they could use your charger? That sounds like bad ux)
There's already some people in the twitter comments talking about this as a security issue, so I'll respond do that too.
I guess you can sort of say this is a security issue (like I'm sure with enough work you could short the battery or such)... but jamming such a device into a car would be about as obvious as shoving a brick through the window, keying the paint, or any of a number of other physical attacks. This is the same sort of security issue as the security issue of "car's glass windows can be broken by a determined malicious individual". We don't run around with a fear of "cars aren't secure because a malicious person could put a brick through the glass", and a fear of "a malicious person could open the charge port and do something" is way further down the list of any reasonable person's concerns imo.
- andsbf 5y agoBut it is Tesla, so people has to make a drama about it
- cmeacham98 5y agoThe OP on twitter says its not going to help you pwn Teslas, and as of the time of commenting every comment on this post has the same opinion that this is ok. Where's the drama?
- dotancohen 5y agoRecently I was talking to someone about my new Model 3. They had heard all about the body panels not lining up. But when I asked him if he had ever heard about the Subaru brake light recall or the Toyota airbag shrapnel, he became concerned because he drives a Toyota. For some reason, all minor Tesla recalls become public scandals yet serious safety-related recalls of other automakers are obscure.
- andsbf 5y agoThanks, that was my point but I didn't have the energy to write it as well as you did. Appreciate it
- nexuist 5y agoI also believe this is not an issue right now, but I'll throw this out to ponder: Since supercharging is paid and tied to the VIN, that implies that there is some kind of data transfer occurring between the vehicle and the charging station, right? It's not just a dumb terminal connection. Given that this is the case, could a theoretical exploit use that data connection to gain access to the vehicle and e.g. unlock the doors? Since any common criminal can open the charging port with this exploit, they could also plug in a fake charger to weaponize the exploit and drive away with a free car. Yeah, I know, sounds pretty ridiculous. But these are expensive cars and it might be reality soon enough similar to how common thieves can buy replay attack devices on the black market now.
- widdakay 5y agoFurthermore, if I press the button when near two Teslas, both charge ports open up, so the ability for the person to replay the signal yielded a "duh" to me.