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That makes sense, but how would an attacker flash an older version of the firmware in the first place? Don't you need developer options and unlocking + debuggin
by g947o 9mo ago
That makes sense, but how would an attacker flash an older version of the firmware in the first place? Don't you need developer options and unlocking + debugging enabled?
- QuiEgo 9mo agoOpen the case and pogo pin on a flash programmer directly to the pins of the flash chip. Sophisticated actors (think state-level actors like a border agent who insists on taking your phone to a back room for "inspection" while you wait at customs) can and will develop specialized tooling to help them do this very quickly.
- jeroenhd 9mo agoQualcomm phones come with a special mode (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualcomm_EDL_mode https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualcomm_EDL_mode) that allows devices to get unbricked even after you break the normal user-updatable "bootloader" on flash completely. This feature doesn't allow unlocking the bootloader (as in, execute a custom ROM), it's designed to install factory-signed code. However, using it to "restore" an old, vulnerable factory code would obviously cause issues.