Thread: BackDoorLock hack - prevents silent updates
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Old 05-14-2014, 03:03 PM   #111
eschwartz
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
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Posts: 19,421
Karma: 85400180
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity
Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)
Quote:
Originally Posted by negev View Post
Just discovered that with the backdoor lock enabled on a PW2 with the latest firmware (5.4.3.2) Amazon are still able to remotely remove books from the device.

I assume the lock is only for updates, is there any way to prevent them from remotely killing books on the device?
You assume correctly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmid View Post
This simple hack has only one purpose: stop Amazon from updating your Kindle silently without your explicit consent.
It is intended for users who believe in "My device - my rules" principle.

It doesn't stop Kindle from downloading the update file but once it is downloaded, any silent installation attempt fails instantly in an early stage without depleting the battery and intercepting the GUI.

...

Here is how it works:

It replaces the line
Code:
_UPDATE_WAIT="/usr/sbin/updatewait"
in /etc/updater.conf with this one:
Code:
_UPDATE_WAIT="$(if [ -x /mnt/us/backdoorlock/updatewait ]; then echo /mnt/us/backdoorlock/updatewait; else echo /usr/sbin/updatewait; fi)"
Wrapper script /mnt/us/backdoorlock/updatewait passes any calls to /usr/sbin/updatewait but only if called with parameter -i (immediate/interactive) - that's how "Update Your Kindle" calls it.
OTOH silent updates call updatewait without any parameters and such attempts are intercepted and logged to /mnt/us/backdoorlock/update.log or /mnt/us/extensions/backdoorlock/update.log .

On KT and KPW lines
Code:
legacy.GET.FWUO=com.lab126.ota
legacy.GET.FWUP=com.lab126.ota
are commented out in file /etc/todo/handler_registry.conf
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