4 ms·

Exploitation of Philips Smart TV

50 points by __Joker 12y ago

rdtsc 12y ago
Be careful some TVs like Vizio, have USB ports that will supposedly let them connect to the TV, debug it, update firmware etc. However it also has a feature where it will lock itself in cases it detects an un-authorized device plugged in. Then you have to call the company to fix it. It could be a DRM thing or a "we don't like to let people break our TVs". I found about it because I wanted to play with it, and after reading that on a forum gave up.
- dbloom 12y ago
  Context: http://www.reddit.com/comments/m16fd http://www.reddit.com/comments/m16fd
tedks 12y ago
Is this one of the ones that has an always-on microphone for "voice control"?
dbloom 12y ago
Samsung actually has a bug bounty program for their Smart TVs: https://samsungtvbounty.com/Home.aspx https://samsungtvbounty.com/Home.aspx I would not have been willing to connect my Samsung TV to the internet if their bug bounty program didn't exist. (But, just to be safe, I always keep the TV's camera retracted :-))
- darklajid 12y ago
  I stated somewhere else that I did a factory reset and pulled the cable after connecting my Samsung 'Smart' (it's not) TV to the internet the first time. It installed some updates and gazillion apps. Crappy apps. Oh are these apps awful. Think 'shiny laptop, plain Windows' and after connecting to the internet for the first time you see mandatory mal- and crapware installations, and the applications are unmovable on your desktop all the time. Customer supports says that these aren't optional/cannot be removed. Please. Samsung is not a decent example for how to run a so-called 'smart' TV.
  - dbloom 12y ago
    At least on the 2013+ models, you can choose to make the TV not show the "smart" interface every time it boots. And you can disable the "Smart TV" boot-up splash screen, too. I only bought the "smart" TV because Samsung's best plasma panel is not offered in a dumb TV (http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/#apps http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/#apps ). But, since I had to buy it anyway, it does make a decent Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu player, which saves me an HDMI input and also means one less remote control.
tomrod 12y ago
Very interesting! What could be done with this type of exploit? Custom SmartTV OS?
SixSigma 12y ago
If only these companies would just say "plug a jack into port S, 115200 bps, 8 bit, no stop, no parity, enjoy. let us know if you do something cool"
SchizoDuckie 12y ago
Sweet. Now how can we get the chromecast firmware running on this?

50 points by __Joker 12y ago

rdtsc 12y ago

Be careful some TVs like Vizio, have USB ports that will supposedly let them connect to the TV, debug it, update firmware etc. However it also has a feature where it will lock itself in cases it detects an un-authorized device plugged in. Then you have to call the company to fix it. It could be a DRM thing or a "we don't like to let people break our TVs". I found about it because I wanted to play with it, and after reading that on a forum gave up.

dbloom 12y ago
Context: http://www.reddit.com/comments/m16fd http://www.reddit.com/comments/m16fd

tedks 12y ago

Is this one of the ones that has an always-on microphone for "voice control"?

dbloom 12y ago

Samsung actually has a bug bounty program for their Smart TVs: https://samsungtvbounty.com/Home.aspx https://samsungtvbounty.com/Home.aspx I would not have been willing to connect my Samsung TV to the internet if their bug bounty program didn't exist. (But, just to be safe, I always keep the TV's camera retracted :-))

darklajid 12y ago
I stated somewhere else that I did a factory reset and pulled the cable after connecting my Samsung 'Smart' (it's not) TV to the internet the first time. It installed some updates and gazillion apps. Crappy apps. Oh are these apps awful. Think 'shiny laptop, plain Windows' and after connecting to the internet for the first time you see mandatory mal- and crapware installations, and the applications are unmovable on your desktop all the time. Customer supports says that these aren't optional/cannot be removed. Please. Samsung is not a decent example for how to run a so-called 'smart' TV.
- dbloom 12y ago
  At least on the 2013+ models, you can choose to make the TV not show the "smart" interface every time it boots. And you can disable the "Smart TV" boot-up splash screen, too. I only bought the "smart" TV because Samsung's best plasma panel is not offered in a dumb TV (http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/#apps http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/#apps ). But, since I had to buy it anyway, it does make a decent Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu player, which saves me an HDMI input and also means one less remote control.

tomrod 12y ago

Very interesting! What could be done with this type of exploit? Custom SmartTV OS?

SixSigma 12y ago

If only these companies would just say "plug a jack into port S, 115200 bps, 8 bit, no stop, no parity, enjoy. let us know if you do something cool"

SchizoDuckie 12y ago

Sweet. Now how can we get the chromecast firmware running on this?