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There are quite some discussion around Android 13 bumping the anti-rollback protection on Pixel 6, and people are shitting on Google for this. Not sure how much I'm allowed to disclose so I'll just say this: this decision is not made lightly; it's done because it's necessary.

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@LukeDashjr@BitcoinHackers.org on Mastodon

@LukeDashjr

Aug 17

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@topjohnwu

It's never necessary to tell the owner "no" Are you offering refunds beyond the 15 day window?

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You can only realistically get into this state if you unlock the bootloader. When you unlock the BL, you’ve voluntarily forfeit warranty (at least for software related issues like this one). I’m 100% sure that if your device bricked after a normal OTA, you’ll get a replacement.

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But those issues would not arise without the counter being incremented in the first place. With unlocked bootloaders, this should be a choice.

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and

Rollback is disabled before it updates the anti-rollback counter.

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It still hurts custom rom users. I already don't care about my safetynet state, why should I be locked to an android 13 bootloader for security issues that I choose to not care about?

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and

Rollback protection is part of verified boot. It has existed for the SoC boot chain, secure element and the OS itself for many years. Pixels have used it for the OS and secure element for years. It wasn't used in practice for SoC boot chain due to being a development annoyance.

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An important security feature not being fully implemented due to it being a development annoyance is problematic. GrapheneOS is an aftermarket OS focused on Pixels and we wanted this feature to start being used properly and complained about it not being done on the past devices.

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Not everyone using an aftermarket OS wants to roll back the security model and disable security features. Proper verified boot is a small part of what we expect potential hardware partners to implement. It's not proper verified boot if firmware bypasses aren't fixed like this.

2:36 AM · Aug 18, 2022Twitter Web App

@LukeDashjr@BitcoinHackers.org on Mastodon

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and

That's why it should be a _choice_. ;)

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You're welcome to use something other than GrapheneOS if you don't want the standard security model and hardware-based security features intact. Rollback protection is a basic security feature and has already been used for years, just not for the early SoC boot chain in practice.

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