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Comment by gruez | Hacker News Reader

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gruez

>like uninstalling bloatware, denying apps internet access

All of these can be done with a computer.

>recording calls (legally)..

A second phone does the same thing.

>Hack for "escalating privileges" on my own device so I can do nefarious actions

Whether it's a "hack" is orthogonal to whether you control the device or not. I don't think anyone disputes that you "own" your linux PC, but using the well known `docker run --privileged ...`[1] method to get root on your machine is still a hack.

[1] random result: https://github.com/Volodishlav/Docker-Privilege-Escalation

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> All of these can be done with a computer.

Can you permanently apply chain3 (FIREWALL_CHAIN_OEM_DENY_3) firewall rules, so that when the device reboots these are still applied? I see no persistence. And if I'm forced to install some crappy app on-the-go, the solution you propose is to always carry a computer with me, right?

> A second phone does the same thing.

So does a Phonograph from 1877, right?

> Whether it's a "hack" is orthogonal to whether you control the device or not.

I didn't object to it being called a hack, I just pointed out how evil and malicious that privilege escalation on my own device is. Google must block it immediately, it endangers the mankind.

>Can you permanently apply chain3 (FIREWALL_CHAIN_OEM_DENY_3) firewall rules, so that when the device reboots these are still applied?

Just use firewall VPN apps + VPN lockdown mode (ie. "block connections without VPN").

>So does a Phonograph from 1877, right?

I think it's fair to factor in what feature was lost because wireless-adb-on-localhost was removed. If some critical accessibility feature was lost, that would be far more important than something that's merely a mild annoyance, like needing a second device to run `adb install`.

>I just pointed out how evil and malicious that privilege escalation on my own device is. Google must block it immediately, it endangers the mankind.

Right, but going back to the docker root analogy, would you think it's unreasonable if people threw a hissy fit of linux kernel/docker developers added some security feature that blocked it?

It's impossible to use both these firewall VPN apps and real VPN at the same time.

Actually for any VPN apps that support per-app split tunneling, excluding a given app while vpn lockdown is enabled causes the app to be blocked. So you can have both.

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