Root Access

allquixotic

00:47

@JourneymanGeek lol awesome

Journeyman Geek

ugh

Ugh, fellas. This is primarily an opinion based question. While we're the ewok types, please don't send us the ones with fleas. — Journeyman Geek 45 secs ago

Bob

@JourneymanGeek better if you ping the guy who suggested it too

otherwise he'll probably never see that comment

o.O

@allquixotic Star Citizen AMA

> We can't wait to show you what we have worked on at PAX AUSTRALIA!

O_O

Hmm... Oct 31st... I could actually go O_O

Journeyman Geek

;p

Bob

But it's in Melbourne

that's a good 10 hour drive

there's... a KSP tournament? wut

Journeyman Geek

01:12

lkml.org/lkml/2014/10/23/151

allquixotic

02:21

huh. I like Civilization: Beyond Earth

will be playing more of it

-2

A: Is SELinux important if I'm the only one who uses my computers?

One of the points of SELinux is that it can be used to ensure that you continue to be the only one to use your computers...

Psycogeek

@allquixotic I thought that was a good summary to the rest of the answers :-)

Psycogeek

03:31

blast these answers, they always get out-of-hand

And so the story goes that the UEFI interface to the same basic hardware actions was born, giving a pathway to generational reproduction of the same idea to expand.
Once given the freedom to create a whole OS like software on the leetel storage chip on the motherboard the UEFI grows and grows (as planned).
With great beauty and great power and a vast array of resources at hand, they can make a BIOS now known as the UEFI (universal electronic fail infestation) that is capable of almost anything.

Journeyman Geek

So get off my lawn? ;p

Psycogeek

Atop the mountain the UEFI goes to speak to the burning bush , which was caused by the smoke comming out of the computer security clans.

Cerberus

@Psycogeek I wonder why there is no hardware switch you need to set in order to flash new UEFI firmware. It's such a risk!

And it has already been abused.

Psycogeek

After 5 years (that is how long all ramifications take) UEFI came down from the mountain top with 2 tablets written in stone. It was known as the 10 Rules. When UEFI saw what the people had done to the hardware , he was angered, and slammed the tablets to the ground.

Journeyman Geek

@Cerberus: Define risk

Psycogeek

03:42

UEFI said , You have dishonored my hardware and my grace for having provided you the path to great destruction. I have spoken to hardware and you are all going to hell.

Journeyman Geek

Considering you can generally flash in new UEFI firmware under situations where bios would fail

Psycogeek

(just like my answer)

Journeyman Geek

and there's many optional failsafes

Cerberus

@JourneymanGeek It has already been abused.

If there is one element in your computer that you shouldn't be able to flash at all, it is that.

Journeyman Geek

What, bad bios?

Cerberus

03:49

UEFI.

Journeyman Geek

No, I mean how where has it been abused?

Cerberus

If you really have to flash it, use a hardware switch.

Oh.

Some virus managed to flash it.

Journeyman Geek

Cerberus

Why would I need a citation?

I can Google a link for you?

Journeyman Geek

That would help, yes.

Cerberus

03:54

tweakers.net/nieuws/99203/…

Journeyman Geek

It helps to back up claims like that

Cerberus

It's in Dutch.

@JourneymanGeek You presume that I need to back up a claim that I already know to be true.

Journeyman Geek

No, I presume you need to be specific when making a claim so people know what you're talking about.

Cerberus

I assumed people knew.

Journeyman Geek

And that sounds like you could, in theory do the same thing with bios.

Cerberus

03:56

Of course.

Journeyman Geek

And that its a problem with a specific reference implimentation of UEFI everyone has copied.

Cerberus

There is Badbios and such.

Journeyman Geek

Badbios seems to be a myth.

Cerberus

Not everyone, but many UEFI chip makers.

mitre.org/sites/default/files/publications/…

This is the presentation Tweakers links to.

I have only read the Tweakers article.

Journeyman Geek

ahh

that's pretty good actually

and in english

Cerberus

03:59

heise.de/security/meldung/…

A German article.

Which languages do you read?

Journeyman Geek

English and Tamil ;p

Cerberus

At any rate, if you can alter the firmware on the chip to patch or update it or whatever, then you cannot exclude the possibility that bad guys can, too. This risk, even while it is still theoretical, should be eliminated.

Heh.

A hardware switch should do it.

Psycogeek

@Cerberus how do we then solve the issue of intel (and MB makers) having created a net connection that is capable of connecting to the internet When the computer is in the OFF state , in possible colusion with a basic hardware interface that could hve stayed basic, and instead will have to have a load of mostly unnessisry security garbage tossed in it, that will half work , .. . etc

Cerberus

@Psycogeek I'm not sure I understand...

Psycogeek

@Cerberus my new nic card onboard claims it can actually download from the web, when the computer is off. (it rides off of 5v standby power)

Cerberus

04:07

I don't know what a NIC card is...

Psycogeek

Intel network lan thing

Cerberus

Ah.

The kind that can wake on LAN?

Psycogeek

Wake, no it does not have to wake, it can work while asleep

Cerberus

As long as only its volatile memory is writable, I think the risk of a rootkit is absent?

Psycogeek

I think most of the risks are low, it wont prevent some person from exploiting it, and a whole industry created to stop it.

Cerberus

04:10

That may be true.

Even so, I think chips like UEFI thingies just shouldn't be writable at all except with a hardware chip.

Psycogeek

when it could have stayed simple, that is my only thing, it was not a requirement it was a cool thing that could be done.

Cerberus

Yes, sometimes they make the wrong things more complex.

Oh, and I think the firmware on other components of a computer should not be writable either, except with a hardware switch.

Look at how many rootkits they have found that operate on hard-drive firmware, USB-device firmware...

Psycogeek

@Cerberus just like the section of the phones that is parts of the same flash chip that the person uses to store data on. Its no longer my grandfathers EPROM flash where you had to actually flash.

easy in, easy out :-)

Cerberus

Are you talking about the bootloader?

Perhaps that should be a separate, read-only chip, yes. (On a side note, you should still be able to root your phone, so the bootloader should not be locked, then!).

Psycogeek

so yes a switch to re-write the whole base code that the hardware starts by , seems like it would have been thought up even and tossed out.

Cerberus

04:17

Such switches are sometimes used.

Psycogeek

Oh lets control it instead with software

Cerberus

And they are good.

@Psycogeek Noooo!!!

Hardware switches just mean more work for the company servicing the thing in case they want to update the firmware.

Which I think is not a good enough reason.

Psycogeek

they could put in a key switch , then have ignition flash problems :-)

Cerberus

04:31

Haha.

Apply more force or the virus won't catch!

Psycogeek

and dont forget my Footpedal firewall. press on gas to get connection, or use web cruise control.

Cerberus

Haha that would be cool.

Journeyman Geek

07:06

0

Q: Is it safe to stick a modem/router to the wall with blutak?

I've stuck my modem and router to the wall, to safe to save space. The wall jack is in the kitchen, they would otherwise be in the way. Is it safe to use blutak? They appear to be stuck on pretty firm, but I worry that it'll unstick and damage the modem or router.

hardware-rec

Whut?

Hennes

10:10

Time to google what blutak is

Ah, some unfamiliar brand.

Journeyman Geek

blue tac ;p

Blu-Tack

Blu-tack is a reusable putty-like pressure-sensitive adhesive produced by Bostik, commonly used to attach lightweight objects (such as posters or sheets of paper) to walls or other dry surfaces. Traditionally blue (blu), it is also available in other colours. The composition of Blu-Tack is a manufacturing secret but is described as a synthetic rubber compound without hazardous properties under normal conditions. It can be swallowed without harm and is noncarcinogenic. It is non-soluble and is denser than water. The material has a flash point of 93 °C / 200 °F, at which it releases carbon dioxide...

Hennes

oh, scoll back about UEFI stuff. Nice

I read some of it and was on the first pages of 14-2221-extreme-escalation.pdf

abei kommt es an zwei Stellen zu Integer Overflows, die ein Angreifer ausnutzen kann, um Schadcode zu diesem sehr frühen Zeitpunkt des Bootvorgangs auszuführen. Der Code muss nicht mal eine gültige Signatur besitzen.

The last seems badly coded.

First check the signature. Then attempt to parse it.

Uh, Intel NUCs had the vulnerable UEFI. Not good (tm)

Bob

10:48

@allquixotic Meelec has a slightly updated Matrix2 with MicroUSB charging :P

> Nope, sorry. The only two aptX models we have right now are the Matrix2 and the Metro2 (which is an in-ear). There will be an on-ear model with aptX towards the end of the year as well.

Two more months! :P

Ash

11:07

anyone got spare invites to googles new inbox ?

@JourneymanGeek @HackToHell

Journeyman Geek

11:23

Fraid not

Hennes

Nope. Not even an account at google (and no way to make one without paying)

Fitzroy

13:18

I'm sure it used to be possible to browse directories using Internet Explorer. It behaved just like Windows Explorer. When I attempt to navigate to C:\ or C:/ it just launches a Windows Explorer window. Anyone know if this is still possible?

Should have probably said, I attempted this on Windows 7 running IE8

Bob

@Fitzroy Do you need it?

> if what you want is to essentialy have an Explorer interface for files and folders from within IE7, it is not possible. The integration with Explorer was completely removed in IE7 for security reasons.

So... yea.

Fitzroy

13:38

@Bob As it's not possible to run an elevated instance of Windows Explorer, I was hoping that I could run IE elevated and use to navigate directories. Not being able to run Windows Explorer elevated is problematic on a system with UAC enabled.

Bob

Hm.

I normally just drop into an elevated command prompt.

Running IE (or any browser, for that matter) elevated is in general a terrible idea.

Fitzroy

I'm happy to use cmd/powershell - but not all other admins are.

I don't use the Windows GUI much these days

Bob

@Fitzroy If they can't use a CLI, they don't deserve to be called an admin.

You might look into third-party folder browsers. I'm not sure.

Fitzroy

I like to use the native OS tools where ever possible.

But it's a valid suggestion.

Bob

That's what cmd/PS are for. But if you start ruling out the native tools designed for the job, then you don't really have many other options.

Fitzroy

13:42

Basically any third party file explorer would do the trick. The only reason Windows Explorer is useless is because it's related to the explorer.exe shell.

Bob

Explorer's a bit of a weird case. It can elevate most tasks, but not browsing itself... weird.

Hm. Might make a suggestion to MS for Win10, actually.

Fitzroy

You'd have to run the whole explorer.exe as elevated. Yuk.

Bob

@Fitzroy You could also use the file browser dialog.

Just open an elevated Notepad and use its open dialog.

Fitzroy

...And Windows probably doesn't let you do that anyway

Bob

@Fitzroy There's an option hidden in folder options for each Explorer window to get its own process. I don't how how that works with elevation, though.

Fitzroy

13:43

Yes - thats a good trick! forgot about that!

The option is called "Launch folder windows in a separate process" . But it was dropped after Windows Vista. Dang.

Bob

It was? Huh.

Fitzroy

So I've just discovered

Bob

...I have it in Win8.1

Fitzroy

OK - just reading an article on the subject...

OK, correction - the option is still present in Windows 7. But apparently after Windows Vista you can no longer run explorer elevated. At least not without some hackery. That's according to this post: social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/… "...explorer has a component which blocks every request to elevate the Explorer."

There's only one way to find out - try it. Will let you know the outcome...

Fitzroy

14:06

OK - tested it. Created a directory and gave administrators group permissions only. Using an account that is a member of administrators, launched Windows Explorer normally, tried to open the folder and as expected got the warning that "You don't currently have permission to access this folder".

I then opened an elevated powershell prompt and ran 'explorer c:\' and tried to access the folder. Same result.

Oh well - seems it's not possible...

Bob

Try the file browser dialog.

Fitzroy

how can i invoke it easily?

Bob

28 mins ago, by Bob

Just open an elevated Notepad and use its open dialog.

You could also open one through a PS or VBS script, if you really wanted

Fitzroy

Sorry - completely missed that suggestion!

ok - I try it.

Yeah - works perfectly. Why didn't I think of that... shamed

HackToHell

@Ash nope

Fitzroy

14:19

@bob thanks Bob. That's steered me in the right direction. Without reinventing the wheel, I can just come up with a solution using the common file dialogue.

Bob

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$dialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog
$dialog.ShowDialog()

Fitzroy

Invoke it using powershell, or perhaps it can be invoked with rundll. I'll see.

beat me to it. thanks.

When you look at the Common File Dialogue and Windows Explorer side-by-side they're practicaly the same thing. A very nice solution. Thanks.

HackToHell

Bob

14:43

The answers on this page... cringe

Journeyman Geek

I'm pretty sure the wall of text is a spammer

HackToHell

15:06

Eh gigaom.com/2014/10/24/…

allquixotic

@Bob oh cool!

am probably going to wait for the on-ear aptX model though and hope the hell it does MicroUSB, because I'm getting very tired of having to have a separate stash of MiniUSB cables. I mean, I thought they were dead and gone, but my headphones and my emergency radio both use it -_-

@Bob meowy! you're not going to change to a cat gravatar now, are you? ... or is that a fox?!?!

no. that can't be a fox. it has cat eyes and a Tabby "M" on its forehead.

That Brazilian Guy

15:26

-6

Q: Are you mods always retarded like this?

Are you retards and moderator cocksuckers always like this? Go suck your own dick rather than randomly downvoting stuffs and deleting user's comments without any explanations.

mod

Such a lovely, happy fella

Omen

the great thing is, he acknowledges us ordinary users! we didn't miss out... woohoo!!!

That Brazilian Guy

Oh yeah... I know! That includes you all too! — Derek Mancina 3 mins ago

O_o

Either an obvious troll or a seriously psichologically damaged person.

Omen

or someone pre-coffee

That Brazilian Guy

I couldn't tell, I don't drink coffee.

Omen

nor me

His latest title was "No one can stop me from doing this" - before it was deleted, and yes, yes we can...

Bob

15:42

I wonder how many it takes to trigger the question ban.

Shouldn't be long now.

Omen

it looks like that user is suspended for 7 days

Derek Mancina

1 5

audio crash drivers speakers windows-7

Bob

Manual suspension works too.

Omen

he is back!

well, he was back...lol

slhck

@Omen Yeah, he's not coming back anytime soon

Although I don't get what caused him to be so angry in the first place.

Omen

what entertainment though

slhck

15:50

Absolutely

Gotta go again…

Omen

no worries :)

Bob

@allquixotic Cat with a surprisingly foxlike nose :P

Omen

LMAO he is threatening legal action!

-7

Q: My reputation is destroyed by frickin moderators

Hello sons of bitches!! Give me a fucking explanation for the disrespectful behavior of your mods! You can ban me you can do whatever you can. I will keep on doing this unless i get my fucking explanation. Yes I use foul words! It is how I live on this planet. Give me a fucking explanation why y...

windows-7 windows windows-8

Boris_yo

When I move wireless mouse, it sometimes stops moving which reminds of computer lag which is not the case actually.

@Omen Here goes the shitstorm...

Deleted already?

Omen

yup, another one is up... I am running out of flags

slhck

16:04

Ah gee…

Omen

holy crud, another one

If I could hazard a guess, I think that Derek is a tad disgruntled and rather unamused...

slhck

Hm? Did I miss one?

Omen

they all have been nuked so far

holy odd socks...

Bob

I really should go to sleep. Hmm.

Omen

but you'll miss the entertainment

slhck

16:11

If you see someone posting offensive stuff, please use your offensive flags. They count more than normal flags.

9

Omen

oh I am, I have used 5 so far

slhck

Tonight it's free flags for all!

But I guess he's slowed down now.

Can't keep this up forever, even with proxies and Tor and whatnot.

Omen

probably getting a coffee

he is probably also drinking an energy drink

Bob

Would be great if people stopped commenting on it.

Omen

he's back

Fitzroy

16:14

2

slhck

It's interesting though… I kept refreshing the newest questions list and didn't see the posts while you guys already linked it to me.

Bob

SE uses cloudflare for caching now

If you start on the page and wait for the live new questions thing, that should be faster

Omen

i am running out of flags

slhck

Ah

Bob

> 55 flags remaining

whistles nonchalantly

Omen

16:18

sweeeeeeet

Bob

> Derek'sGirlFriendMercy

ha de ha

Omen

lol

Bob

They just don't make trolls like they used to.

Omen

nope, now its ust copy and paste and girlfriends named Mercy

I have only 3 more to use

slhck

Well maybe he'll learn that it doesn't pay off.

Omen

16:23

maybe... but would this count fr a network wide ban?

slhck

How do you mean?

Omen

his persistent making of new accounts and this nonsense - would it mean that he could be banned across the SE network?

ProgramFOX

He started on answers now: superuser.com/a/831587/285825

slhck

Well, I really have to leave now – just keep flagging as offensive and link stuff here. Thanks for the help folks.

Omen

no probs

Unihedron

16:26

Bye!

Jan Dvorak

I'm linking them in the tavern. Who wants to join me there?

TGMCians

/me

Bob

killitwithfire => superuser.com/a/831593/117590

and another => superuser.com/a/831594/117590

hm

TGMCians

@Bob gone

Bob

heck, I'm actually considering an auto-flagging userscript. should be simple enough and no false positives considering the prevalence of certain words

Jan Dvorak

16:32

an auto-reporting script is a good start

Bob

dumbass thinks he's being funny

=> superuser.com/a/831595/117590

old questions now

TGMCians

gone

Bob

except the auto-bump kills that idea :)

Omen

1 more flag left

Bob

49 left. I could do this all night.

Except a script would be more efficient.

@JanDvorak interacting with chat is more trouble than this is worth :P

might be a good idea when I have the time though

Jan Dvorak

16:36

@Bob $.post(postUrl, {text:..., fkey:fkey().fkey})

the chat window contains an fkey generator in he global scope

hichris123

@JanDvorak C'mon, formatting!

Bob

@JanDvorak I was thinking of running the script on the main site, but I suppose the API would work better.

Jan Dvorak

seems to be calm now

Omen

for now... it calmed as then he started again

hopefully he has tired of this nonsense

hichris123

Hopefully.

Jan Dvorak

16:41

perhaps he figured out we're watching him

Omen

true, maybe just maybe, he has decided that it is time to grow up

Bob

@JanDvorak then he'll come back later, blissfully unaware that every action he can take will bump the post

Omen

well, I am well on my way to a Strunk and White badge...

Jan Dvorak

We may stop watching, but my script never will

Omen

epic!

Jan Dvorak

16:47

Maybe the server-side script has kicked in and learnt this IP is a naughty boy

Omen

true, he is probably on his way to an internet cafe

Jan Dvorak

SE should make a nasty sound when a post is rejected

Awal Garg

whatza happening with SE?

Omen

or play Justin Beiber songs

Awal Garg

oh hello everyone btw

TGMCians

16:50

o/

Awal Garg

@JanDvorak never seen you here dude :D

2

Jan Dvorak

unless it's Friday, then it should choose Rebecca

Omen

lol

Jan Dvorak

another side effect is that we can catch any new innocent non-answers

Awal Garg

o_O looks like some person is posting pams?

J. Musser

16:55

Looks like all of the taverners are here. :D

TGMCians

:D

Jan Dvorak

@inf isn't here

Braiam

oh god.... The Tavern invaded RA!?

Unihedron

@JanDvorak Lurking logged out

J. Musser

@JanDvorak true that

Awal Garg

16:56

0

A: How can I stop Raid call from loading when I start my computer?

Any other solution? My raidcall starts when windows starts even with that box unchecked..

what?

Unihedron

@Braiam With flamethrowers, yes

J. Musser

@Unihedron yup

Jan Dvorak

@AwalGarg NAA

Awal Garg

@JanDvorak NAAAAAAAAA

TGMCians

^

Unihedron

16:56

@AwalGarg Batman! Nanananana

Jan Dvorak

that... ping sound here is kinda ugly

3

Unihedron

@JanDvorak Then disable sounds, problem solved

Bob

@JanDvorak Yep.

Braiam

@JanDvorak DISABLE ALL THE PINGS!

Awal Garg

SO chat rooms have better ping sound... jus sayin :D

Unihedron

16:57

Or dig into the source code and change the ping sound to something cool

TGMCians

yo @InfiniteRecursion

Unihedron

like danosongs.com/music/danosongs.com-now-is-now.mp3

Awal Garg

@Unihedron I have mine changed to \0

Unihedron

hiya @inf @inf @inf @inf

Awal Garg

an inf file?

Bob

16:58

@Unihedron Current ref: https://cdn-chat.sstatic.net/chat/se.mp3

J. Musser

@JanDvorak There is stackapps.com/questions/2479/se-chat-custom-notification-sound

Bob

@J.Musser And here I am about to reinvent the wheel.

Omen

well all, time for me to go to bed - have a good day/evening

Unihedron

Night @Omen

J. Musser

@Omen cya dude

Unihedron

16:59

:D

Awal Garg

NIGHT!!!

J. Musser

Day!

Awal Garg

SPRING!!!

J. Musser

NOT SPRING!!!

@InfiniteRecursion He aint here ;)

Awal Garg

NOT NOT SPRING!!!

Unihedron

17:00

@J.Musser It doesn't work.

It gives that window which keeps changing itself back to the old sound.

Awal Garg

^my userscript effect :D

more power to the star queue :D

J. Musser

@Unihedron Huh. fix it.

@InfiniteRecursion WILL DO.

@InfiniteRecursion OKAY.

Awal Garg

@Unihedron NO ONE IS SHOUTING, NOW SLEEP!!!

2

hichris123

Hmm, there is that timeout button... ;P

Unihedron

Good night then :)

ProgramFOX

17:08

Night!

hichris123

This room was placed in timeout for 1 second; the topic of this room is "For all you Super Users out there." - conversation should be limited to that topic.

There.

Awal Garg

@hichris123 ...do that again for an observable period of time pls?

hichris123

Sandbox

Where you can play with chat features (except flagging) and ch...

2

ProgramFOX

Avira is scanning and it says it has a detection. But there's nothing on the 'Events' log or on the 'Reports' log. Is that because it is still busy scanning?

Awal Garg

@hichris123 wow nice :D

Jan Dvorak

17:10

@ProgramFOX Use MSE ;-)

Fitzroy

@bob Are you a Visual Fox Pro developer?

Bob

@Fitzroy No :\

Fitzroy

@bob OK - just checking...

You can't be too careful.

bjb568

hallo hou jquery java script not werk halp

8

J. Musser

vlq^

bjb568

17:24

y u so meen adn not halp

at lest ad answr

What do people talk about here anyway?

Bob

@bjb568 Things.

bjb568

Ok.

Bob

It's usually not this quiet at this time.

Oh wait, weekend.

bjb568

So people waste employer time but not their own?

Good idea!

J. Musser

I luvs 2 being a gramer adn speelin nazzi

4

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