Apps that modify SELinux state are now forbidden on Google Play. - App Stores

From this day onwards, apps that Change state of SELinux are forbidden on Google Play Store. Those, who have such apps, have 14 days to fix violations or their apps will be removed.
Here's example of message from google:
This is a notification that your application, SELinux Mode Changer, with package ID com.mrbimc.selinux, is currently in violation of our developer terms.
…
REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of the dangerous products provision of the Content Policy:
“Don’t transmit or link to… items that may introduce security vulnerabilities to or harm user devices, apps, or personal data.”
After a regular review, we have determined that your app lowers a user’s device security by modifying or disabling SELinux on the device. To ensure a safe user experience for Play users, we have determined that apps with this functionality are noncompliant.
Please remove this functionality from your app within 14 days to achieve policy compliance. Once approved, your application will again be available with all installs, ratings and reviews intact.
This notification also serves as notice for other apps in your catalog. You can avoid further administrative action by immediately ensuring that no other apps in your catalog are in violation of (but not limited to) the above policy. Please also ensure your apps’ compliance with the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy.
All violations are tracked. Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you feel we have made this determination in error -or feel that this functionality has been misinterpreted, please submit an appeal to the Google Play policy team through this Google Play Help Center article.
The Google Play Team
New definition of "dangerous product
Google play content policy
Google play distribution agreement
What are we going to do?

I can confirm this issue as I also received this message by Google-Play some hours ago.
My app is using "setenforce 0" to allow the "mediaserver"-process loading an .SO-file from the /data-partition.
The loaded .SO-file is then using some C-commands to modify the internal audio-routings of the device.
As hereby the "mediaserver"-process is executing the by SELinux blocked commands and not the initial commands executed via "su", the modification by SuperSU doesn't take affect here ("SU-commands are always permissive").
What's the workaround? Modifying/scrambling the "setenforce 0" to not get scanned by Google's bots?

funtax said:
I can confirm this issue as I also received this message by Google-Play some hours ago.
My app is using "setenforce 0" to allow the "mediaserver"-process loading an .SO-file from the /data-partition.
The loaded .SO-file is then using some C-commands to modify the internal audio-routings of the device.
As hereby the "mediaserver"-process is executing the by SELinux blocked commands and not the initial commands executed via "su", the modification by SuperSU doesn't take affect here ("SU-commands are always permissive").
What's the workaround? Modifying/scrambling the "setenforce 0" to not get scanned by Google's bots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Got 4 emails from Google for same violation. Not exactly if I can bypass this problem by using superSU properly.

jerryfan2000 said:
Same here. Got 4 emails from Google for same violation. Not exactly if I can bypass this problem by using superSU properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might I ask you which apps and features are affected?

PhinxApps said:
Might I ask you which apps and features are affected?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Button Savior (root). Assistive Zoom, oneClick Scroll. In my app, I create a jar with private API invocation in it and start the jar as a shell command by exec or something that I dont quit remember.

I got the same note, too. Oddly, two selinux mode changer apps are still in Play. Maybe they're less worried about apps that say in the title that they turn off selinux. Or maybe they just haven't got to them?

arpruss said:
I got the same note, too. Oddly, two selinux mode changer apps are still in Play. Maybe they're less worried about apps that say in the title that they turn off selinux. Or maybe they just haven't got to them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, the e-mail is just a warning.. I think the apps will be removed in 13 days.
The title shouldn't matter, I assume it's just a scanner/grep which they run against eg. the classes.dex and search for "setenforce".
My app doesn't use this command normally, nor is it an app which is used by the 0815-user - it cannot be a human who decides about good/bad
But does this help us in any way?

This zip is just as good if not better. Only problem is is I don't think there's a way to go back and forth between permissive and enforcing. I did not make this trip, I'm not a programmer, and I'm taking no credit for it. I just found it awhile ago and decided to hold onto it.. Going to recovery, flash the zip, presto.
https://mega.co.nz/#!jhgA3Spb!oOS9ru9q5dDfS5V9iHLFXUTiuZVTSbNk1iyrLrq-lus

tmjm28 said:
This zip is just as good if not better. Only problem is is I don't think there's a way to go back and forth between permissive and enforcing. I did not make this trip, I'm not a programmer, and I'm taking no credit for it. I just found it awhile ago and decided to hold onto it.. Going to recovery, flash the zip, presto.
https://mega.co.nz/#!jhgA3Spb!oOS9ru9q5dDfS5V9iHLFXUTiuZVTSbNk1iyrLrq-lus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing!
I fear we cannot tell our (sometimes quite stupid) users "flash a permissive kernel" if it's "in theory" simple to temporary make SELinux permissive by a single command.

funtax said:
Thanks for sharing!
I fear we cannot tell our (sometimes quite stupid) users "flash a permissive kernel" if it's "in theory" simple to temporary make SELinux permissive by a single command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... which isn't possible on bootloader locked (exploit freed) devices

Has anyone an idea how to exactly interprete this message from Google?
I assume they parse the APK for "setenforce" and blame all apps which use it.
I fully understand and confirm Google's decision, no matter that it's realy a pain in the a** for some of us.
So, what are your thoughts about the following:
1. use a crypted version of "setenforce 0" which hopefully bypasses Google's scanners
2. do the modifications you need to do and hope this modifications are still working after enforced-mode is active again (how would a "execmod"-exception perform if the text-relocations have been made while SELinux was off?)
3. now call setenforce again but with "1", to re-renable SELinux
In other words:
1. would SELinux recognize that a text-relocation was made while it was disabled and then activated?
2. would it be ok to temporary disable SELinux but then re-enable it shortly after the required modifications?
@Chainfire: maybe #1 is something you might know due to SuperSU?

Removed setenforce 0 and surprisingly my app is still working. Guess newer superSU can bypass selinux restriction to some level.

jerryfan2000 said:
Removed setenforce 0 and surprisingly my app is still working. Guess newer superSU can bypass selinux restriction to some level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's correct. SuperSU sets itself to "permissive" in most times afaik - so if you run your restricted commands via SuperSU, you might not get problems with SELinux.
But if another process/pid is running into issues with SELinux, that won't help you.

To anyone still having to modify the SELinux state I would advice you guys to use the Audit messages.
You might not even need to change SELinux to permissive. It's even mentioned in Chainfire's SU documentation in detail.

Catalyst06 said:
To anyone still having to modify the SELinux state I would advice you guys to use the Audit messages.
You might not even need to change SELinux to permissive. It's even mentioned in Chainfire's SU documentation in detail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This might indeed help some of the devs to adjust their commands to work with SELinux enforced - good hint, pretty sure many users are not familar with that
Ohh.. I must adjust myself: I wasn't aware of the SELinux-patcher. Might be an acceptable workaround?

funtax said:
1. use a crypted version of "setenforce 0" which hopefully bypasses Google's scanners
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Google catches this, they may be more tough on you.
I got notices for 3 variants of my Spirit FM apps. Was just a debug/test menu item.
Not needed for my Spirit2 app, but the Spirit1 app did direct access to audio and other devices and won't work on Lollipop otherwise. Not a big deal for Spirit1 really though, because I will likely never release a non-beta compatible with Lollipop.
So I removed the code.
Now I have a tricky issue because I was trying to slowly roll out a new version to KitKat users. So now, 80% of my Lollipop users may still have the "bad" app and I can only fix that by increasing the KK rollout to 100%.
Wonder if Google will kick me at the 14 day mark if I don't go to 100%.

mikereidis said:
Now I have a tricky issue because I was trying to slowly roll out a new version to KitKat users. So now, 80% of my Lollipop users may still have the "bad" app and I can only fix that by increasing the KK rollout to 100%.
Wonder if Google will kick me at the 14 day mark if I don't go to 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news since? It seems Google pulled the trigger...

Sine. said:
Any news since? It seems Google pulled the trigger...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to 100% with my rollout just to be on the safe side.
I have had no followup problems. My affected apps are still selling.
Would have been nice for Google to send a "Thank you for co-operating" email.
I am sorry to hear that the SCR Pro developer has had his developer account terminated.
Termination is an EXTREME measure seemingly intended for confirmed malware spreaders.
I think it is VERY rare (if not impossible) to get a terminated account re-instated. I don't recall ever hearing of a re-instatement.
All of us small developers dependent on Google Play for our income are just a few Google mouse clicks away from having our indie careers ended and Google just does not care.

Why are they doing this?
I'm not sure if this is a good decision from Google. I fully understand that this could help to protect users, but in my opinion, a warning on the device would have been enough.
Android should be an open System. A user installing a permissive kernel, or changing a existing one to permissive mode, could be expected to know what she or he is doing.
I have to recompile the kernel for my SM-P605 because it was the only way to get it to work in permissive mode. Without the ability to do the mode switching by app, I have
to do this ugly changes by hand or make them persistent. Without this I'm even not able to do a chroot and run another Linux-distro on such a device. Forcing developers
to bypass such restirctions is the bigger security issue. If I'm not able to do such things, I could just as well buy a device made by apple.
What would a normal Linux user say, if he isn't allowed to get root access or couldn't download programs which don't work on a Kernels not enforcing SELinux.

mame82 said:
I'm not sure if this is a good decision from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google doesn't care.
Android is now dominant, and Google is closing it off, going closed source on the increasingly important Gapps/GMS etc.
Android Auto, TV, Wear, Play, etc. etc: closed source.
DRM will come and Google doesn't want us bypassing it. We already have it in locked bootloaders for non-Nexus.
This likely makes business sense for Google. They are the new Microsoft, not quite as evil perhaps, but getting closer all the time.

Related

UNA ROM, Private, Fast, And Good Looking:)

After weeks of hard work we (Setmov and uncle Fab) proudly present you the first Una ROM for the galaxy Grand I9082, based on 4.1.2 XXAMF7.​
DISCLAIMER​As usual, your phone your responsability, we won't take any responsability if it flies out of the window or if your girlfriend/boyfriend runs away with it.
PLEASE, DO READ OP COMPLETELY AND CAREFULLY BEFORE ASKING ANY QUESTIONS, ANSWERS TO MOST PROBLEMS ARE THERE
WHAT IS UNA?​Una is a new concept that takes security to a new level.
Are you tired of seeing so much blatant, outrageous and shameless invasion of your privacy and data mining hidden behind nice sentences like "enhanced use experience" or "complete integration with the system"? We decided to develop secure ROMs where privacy means just that – Private!.
It’s free of charge, we are a non profit structure and we are not here to make big bucks.
WHAT UNA ISN'T​UNA isn't a way to help you to stealthily buy massive destruction weapons to foment a coup d'etat in your favorite banana republic or to prepare the third world war:silly:.
UNA secures what leaves from your phone (ie your personnal data doesn't leak and no app can look over your shoulder to spy your activities), but it can't competely secure what comes into your phone.
Why is that?
Because it's just not possible to fully secure a phone from what comes into it, and anyone claiming to be able to do it is either a liar, or an ignorant, or both.
There are too many attacks, some not well documented, if documented at all, and some unknown to the public, and there are too many ways to hack a phone, especially if the user doesn't use his/her common sense.
If you are the type of person that installs apps from shaddy source and/or warez web sites (sites offering cracked paid apps) chances are that at some point you will unknowingly install a malware or a spyware. The same applies if you click on any link, specially on SMS' and emails, if you let any pop out window appear or if you don't protect your lockscreen with a password/pin/pattern and let anyone get physical access to your phone.
A bit of judgment and common sense can save you a lot of trouble, but there's unfortunately nothing UNA can do about it.
Then, if you use your phone to call through GSM your provider will know where you are. If he didn't you wouldn't be able to make any call, the signal has to find you and there's nothing UNA or anyone can do about it.
The only way to prevent that is to disable the phone functions (but then your phone will turn into a wifi only device) and reenable them when needed, head to the scripts section to learn how to do it.
Last but not least, bear in mind that the agencies have armies of tech savvy henchmen and 10 storeys computers, and tricks we can't even imagine, so think twice and use your brain before you attempt to outsmart them...
UNA IS FOR YOU IF:​. You are willing to learn how to use an unconventional ROM and generally speaking to understand how things work, even if it sometimes requires a little effort to fix this or that little problem (bear in mind that it took us a lot of work to develop Una to where it is now),
. You don't mind a few little occasional bugs here and there that come from all the restrictions the ROM contains,
. You want to take back ownership of your phone from google’s claws.
UNA IS NOT FOR YOU IF:​. All that you care about is the latest gimmick in the latest OS,
. You can't live without the google’s apps,
. You are the kind of person that never reads through the OP and only scroll down to the download section, and then complain that things don't work and/or ask stupid questions in which are answered OP. An example? One guy makes a mod and writes clearly in OP that it's specifically for 4.2.2. Then some people complain: "it doesn't work on 4.4.2"...
If you are that type of person, please do yourself and us both a favour, and close this window now.
ARE WE PARANOID TIN FOIL HATS? OR TERRORISTS? OR CARTEL BOSSES?​Nope, we only are people that don't see why we shouldn't be in control of our phones. Or why our phones can be wiped remotely, why apps or updates or who knows what can be downloaded and installed without asking for our consent, why SMS' can be sent without us to know, why we should pay for the bandwidth used for data mining and unwanted downloads, and why all those activities should deplete our battery and kill our RAM.
You think we are overreacting here?
You don't have to take our word for it, just download and install Network Log from here:
https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=network+log&fdid=com.googlecode.networklog
Give it root permission, start logging and open some web pages. Come back to Network Log after a few minutes and see for yourself, you'll be surprised (or maybe horrified?) to find out that your android system, your settings, your kernel etc. connect to all sorts of funny IPs, including and foremost google’s.
Now you see what we mean?
It's time to go for Una
UNA'S FEATURES​. Rooted.
. Deodexed.
. Zipaligned.
. Busybox and sqlite installed.
. Init.d support and scripts.
. Auto start disabled for most apps.
. About 120 system apps, 40 framework jars, 30 permissions xmls and 25 libs removed, plus files here and there.
. Very low RAM and CPU consumption, more than 8 hours screen time with the WIFI on, 1% battery decrease every 10-12 hours while in stand by.
. Heavily and extensively modified system, in order to make it secure and prevent it from leaking your data.
. App Settings, Firewall and Xprivacy built-in, and already applied out of the box to make sure you are well protected.
. Xprivacy is a fantastic tool but it has one big limitation, it can't restrict the Android System from accessing your serial numbers and leaking it. For that reason these IDs have been edited as follows:
build.serial (androidboot.serialno) and ro.serialno are both set to "1",
android id is set to "android",
net.hostname is set to "1".
. Wlan serial number set to "00000001" (this number identifies you everytime you connect to the internet, and Xprivacy can't do anything about it).
. USB ID (iSerial) set to 1.
. Unreadable cp access.
. Vulnerabilities patched thanks to Master Key Multi Fix and Fake ID Fix.
. ADB disabled (can be re-enabled, see below).
. By default ADB, all google access (including youtube, blogspot and google search) and the Media Storage are disabled. You can re-enable some or all of them, instructions are in the "HOW TO USE THE ROM" section.
. Plenty of under the hood modifications to make the ROM fast and fluid.
. Multi-purpose navigation keys.
. Call button in contacts.
. Because secure doesn't mean ugly, the whole ROM has been themed with a beautiful green color (if there are enough requests other themes will follow), transparency, and Lollipop HD wallpapers.
. KK style pop-up toasts.
. Multiwindows have been revamped, they are no longer only static in Samsung style but now they can float and be resized too, like on a computer.
. All apps can be opened in floating mode.
. Possibility to choose between different multiwindows layouts in KK's style.
. Heaps of hand picked and carefully scrutinized open source apps.
There are 2 non open source apps (Greenify and Quick Pic) but they are safe, believe me, I have thoroughly examined them. Still, you can always uninstall them if you feel like it.
In time we will develop our own apps, but first we want to see how people respond to the Una concept...
Installed apps/tools​. 920 Editor, to create and edit scripts or text files.
. AF+ Firewall.
. Alarm clock.
. APG, to encrypt messages.
. App Settings, to restrict apps' permissions, change DPI on a per app basis and more.
. Arity, a calculator.
. Conversations, a secure and encrypted chat, modded by uncle Fab for increased security.
. Fdroid, an alternative to the Play Store, and all the apps are open source!
. Floating stickies, to make small notes on the fly.
. FTP Server, to copy files to/from your phone wirelessly.
. Ghost Commander, a very powerful dual panel root file manager.
. Gravity Box, a theming engine.
. Greenify, to make apps behave by hibernating them when not in use.
. K9 Mail, an email client.
. Kernel Adiutor, if you feel like playing with kernel tweaks (but you have to know what you are doing).
. Lightning, a fast and light weight browser.
. Multiwindows Manager.
. Network Log, to check where your apps connect and chase unwanted connections.
. Open Camera.
. Tor (Orbot) for Android, modded by uncle Fab for increased security.
. Orweb, a browser designed to work along with Tor.
. OS Monitor, to monitor and kill your phone's processes, and more.
. Pale Moon, based on Firefox for Android, for a full desktop experience with Mozilla add-ons preinstalled for enhanced security.
. PDF Reader.
. Preferences Manager, to edit the otherwise difficult to read shared_prefs files in data/data.
. Quick Dic, a good selection of free dictionaries.
. Quick Pic, a Gallery app.
. Rmaps, a maps app where you can download maps from various sources for offline use.
. Search Light, a torch.
. Terminal Emulator, fire up your commands and show your phone who is the boss!
. Text Secure, a secure and encrypted SMS app, modded by uncle Fab for increased security.
. Tint Browser, another fast web browser.
. Urecord, to record sounds with different sample rates.
. USB Mass Storage Enabler, to connect your phone to any computer (note that it only mounts the external SD).
. Viper4Android FX, a powerful sound enhancer.
. Viper4Android XHiFi, some more sound enhancements.
. VLC, a video and music player favourite.
. WI-Fi Privacy Police, to secure your connections even better than they already are.
. Xposed Installer, a great framework that enables apps like App Settings or Xprivacy to work.
. Xprivacy, last but not least, the best privacy app.
WHY IS THIS ROM 4.1.2 BASED AND NOT 4.2.2?​
Because Samsung did a complete failure with its 4.2.2 version for Galaxy Grand.
High RAM consumption, no floating windows, bugs.
Plus, the newer the android version the more spying there is, despite google's sweet talk about "enhanced user's experience", the infamous Fused Location being a good example.
INSTALLATION​As usual, make a backup first!
Do backup your contacts and whatever is important because all your apps and data will be erased (your sd card contents won't be deleted though).
Do backup your /system/csc folder, in case you need it for later.
Do backup your efs folder (VERY IMPORTANT).
Open an android terminal from your phone, first type "su" (without the quotes), enter, then type:
busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p17 of=/sdcard/efs.img
This will create an efs backup caled efs.img in your sd card.
If you need to restore it type:
busybox dd if=/sdcard/efs.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p17
Before you install the ROM, download Philz recovery from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2452985
We chose Philz since AFAIK it's the only one that allows you to lock you recovery with a password (highly recommended, if your recovery is not password protected it wouldn't take more than 2 minutes for someone to disable your pattern or pin protected lockscreen and access all your personal data on the phone).
Philz' installation instructions
You need to have Samsung drivers installed.
Boot your phone into download mode (press volume down and power at the same time).
Open Odin 3.07 and connect your phone.
Click on the PDA slot, navigate to where the Philz recovery is located and select it.
DOUBLE CHECK AND MAKE SURE THAT "RE-PARTITION" IS UNTICKED (only "Auto Reboot" and "F.Reset Time" should be selected).
Click start and wait while Odin flashes Philz.
If everything went well your phone will now auto-reboot into the system. Go into recovery, you should see your brand new Philz.
If you are still on stock recovery then repeat the above steps, but this time untick “Auto Reboot” in Odin.
When in recovery, if before you reboot you see a text on the screen displaying “yes – disable flash recovery”, select it to avoid stock recovery overwriting Philz.
Now, download Una from here (scroll down until you get to the download section):
http://unaos.com/
Unzip the ROM and copy it to the backup folder that is inside the clockworkmod folder in your sd card (if there's no backup folder create it by choosing "mkdir" in Ghost Commander).
Boot into recovery.
Go to restore from sdcard, choose 2015-03-23.10.56.05, and go for it!
Once it's done reboot, congratulations, you have installed Una ROM on your phone!
The screenlock password is 23052015​
IMPORTANT!!!​I haven't tried the latest 4.2.2 ROMs and I don't know if they have Knox or not (the earlier versions hadn't).
If they have it and if you are on such a ROM you'll have to choose custom restore and uncheck boot in the menu, because since the bootloader you have is Knoxed you may get a brick if you downgrade it to a pre-Knox version, don't play with that!
If you choose to proceed, you do so at your own risk, but in any case look first on the internet to find out if it's doable.
If it doesn't work for you then I'm sorry, you are out of luck, shame on you Knox...
If it works please report it here so that other people will know, thanks in advance!
HOW TO USE THE ROM​. Swipe down to access the applications drawer.
. Swipe up to open the notifications.
. Go to settings and set a stong password/pin/pattern protected lockscreen (recommended), default password is 23032015.
. Go in recovery and set a recovery password (recommended).
. Long pressing on the menu key toggles expanded desktop (full screen, no more navigation bar and no more status bar).
. Double pressing the menu key kills and hibernates the current application.
. Long pressing the recent key brings you back to the last application (convenient to switch from one app to another).
. Between the home and the back key there's a supplementary key that can display up to 12 apps (editable in gravity box).
Double pressing that key shows the sound panel, long pressing it shows the reboot menu (note that there's an option to take screenshots in the reboot menu).
. When you open an app you'll see a cascade icon at the top or the bottom right, press it and the app will turn into a floating window like on a computer. Now, open the notifications and check the 4 icons at the top, click any of them and the currently opened floating window (s) will be reorganised according to the layout you chose.
. Go to /system/etc/security/cacerts, check the certificates that are there (you'll find the certificate's name approximately by the middle of the file), and erase the ones you don't need/like.
When you want to transfer files to/from your phone open the USB Mass Storage Enabler app and enable mass storage, that's it. When you are done, don't forget to eject your phone from the computer and to reenable MTP from the app.
. When you install a new application, by default it will be fully restricted in both Xprivacy and the Firewall.
Before you open the newly installed app wait until the Xprivacy icon appears in the status bar, then and only then can you open it.
Most likely the app will crash.
Go to Xprivacy, open its settings and then usage data, you will see what restrictions caused the crash. Re enable some, provided that they are not too invasive.
Many apps require "load.Library" to be allowed in the shell section, that's ok.
Others may need to access the sd card, that's in the storage section and it's ok to allow it for apps that really need to access the storage, like players, cameras or file managers (for other apps try to keep it restricted).
Root apps obviously need "su" and/or 'sh", and sometimes "exec", in the shell section.
Always try to enable as few fields as possible, and bear in mind that data requested by an app is not necessarily needed for that app to work (especially true for identification, internet and mcc/mmc access).
Lastly, give the app internet access in the Firewall if, and only if, it needs it, and restrict some more permissions in App Settings.
If you can't tame the app consider uninstalling it and look for a similar one that has less built-in spyware.
SCRIPTS​. As said above, by default ADB, all google access (including youtube, blogspot and google search) and the Media Storage are disabled.
If you want to re-enable some or all of them, open the folder on your home screen called "scripts". Click on the desired script and it will be automagically executed.
If you choose to enable/disable google access you ll have to go to the Firewall to reapply its script. Open the firewall, go to settings, choose set custom script, click OK.
. You will see more scripts to disable/enable the Bluetooth, the FM Radio and the Phone.
If you disable the Phone and later want to re-enable it do as follows:
untick App Settings in Xposed's modules section, re-enable Phone, reboot, then enable App Settings again.
. Some scripts will enable you to backup/restore your efs partition and flash a recovery.img (to restore or flash an .img, make sure it's in your internal sd and execute the script).
. Other scripts can enable/disable am and pm, but don't play with it unless you know what you're doing.
. You can uninstall the Wallpaper Chooser and the Media Storage if you want, or keep them disabled and resurrect them when needed.
. If you are very privacy concerned you should consider using the "uncle's phone lite" mod because it enables you to call with only the Phone and the Telephony Provider apps (CSC, Contacts, Contacts Storage, Logs Provider and STK are completely de-activated). That's the method I use to make calls, but you have to know that the dialler forces close after you complete the call (not a big deal in my opinion but still, I may look into it one of these days). You'll find the mod in the add-ons section.
BUGS​. For some reason the ADW Launcher doesn't allow transparency in the navigation bars while in portrait, I'm working on that.
. You can't download anything from Lightning and Tint Browser, that's because the Download Manager and the Download UI have been uninstalled. If you need to download something, copy the link and paste it in Pale Moon, it has its own download engine.
. Part of the lockscreen and the dialer don't show in landscape mode, it's because the DPI has been modified in order multi layouts floating windows to work.
. All the installed apps work, but other apps you install may crash. I call that kind of apps "google’s henchmen", they only work if the play store services or the bla bla app are installed and of course they won't on Una since all that garbage has been removed.
If I install your app, why do you want to force me to install your boss' app too? Forget about those apps and search Fdroid, you'll find what you need...
. Depending the way you use your phone you may have to fine tune Xprivacy and reenable some permissions, I'm sorry for the inconvenience but it's impossible to set Xprivacy for all users since we all have different ways to use our phone.
ADD-ONS​. Uncle's themed Sony keyboard, flash it in recovery. It's not open source and that's why it's not included in the rom by default, but it's my every day keyboard because it works fine and because I themed it to make it look nice.
. HD Wallpapers
. Universe Wallpapers
http://unaos.com/addons
If there are many users' requests then I'll upload the following:
. Uncle's phone lite (with clipboard and dialer) for hardcore users. It's safer than using the regular phone configuration, but the dialer forces close when you hang up the call. Flash it in recovery, wipe dalvik-cache, reboot.
. Completely disable internet access for the Android System. Lightning and Tint Browser won't connect anymore since they use the same web engine as the Android System (that is anyway not very safe in 4.2.2), but Pale Moon still works thanks to its build-in web engine. Flash it in recovery, wipe dalvik-cache, reboot.
UPDATES?​There will be some, but no ETA, you'll have to be patient because now we have to design and release Una for three other phones.
Still, any suggestions/comments/bug reports are welcome, help us to improve Una!
FEATURES REQUEST​Yeah, sure, we'll see what we can do but we don't promise anything
That's all for now, enjoy the ROM!!!
The Una team
CREDITS​Big thanks to:good::
F-Droid
M66B (Xprivacy)
Rovo89 (Xposed)
Tungstwenty (App Settings, Master Key, Fake ID Fix)
Ukanth (AF+Firewall)
Jecelyin (920 Editor)
Kraigsandroid (Alarm Klock)
Thialfihar (APG)
Arity (Arity calculator)
Siacs (Conversations)
Ppareit (FTP)
Ghost Squared (Ghost Commander File manager)
Mohammad Adib (Floating Stickies)
C3C076(Gravity Box)
Oasisfeng (Greenify)
K-9 Dog Walkers (K9 Mail)
Grarak (Kernel Adiutor)
Anthonycr (Lightning)
Xperiacle (Multiwindows Manager)
Pragmatic Software (Network Log)
Mdwh2(Open Camera)
The Guardian Project (Orbot and Orweb)
Eolwral (OS Monitor)
Moon Child and Cyansmoker (Pale Moon)
Droidapps (PDF Reader)
Androguide.fr (Pimp My Rom script)
Simon Marquis (Preferences Manager)
Thad Hughes (Quick Dic)
Q-Supreme team (Quick Pic)
Robert.Developer (Rmaps)
Search Light (Search Light)
Jackpal (Terminal Emulator)
Anasthase (Tint Browser And Tint Browser Adblock Addon)
Thomasebell (Urecord)
Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh (USB Mass Storage Enabler)
Zhuhang (Viper4Android FX and Viper4Android XHiFi)
Videolan.org (VLC)
Brambonne (Wi-Fi Privacy Police)
Did I forget someone?
If that's the case let me know and I'll put your name here.
reserved
No screens?
ishmeet1995 said:
No screens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go
I like the effort but there are seriously some thinks you may not know what you are talking about, maybe because lack of knowledge.
Did I mention that I found google’s DNS in Tor (Orbot)? Pretty bad but fear not, I've patched it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most DNS lookups are local to the exit node with occasional use of Google DNS, changing a DNS itself is no guarantee for more security since the data needs to be anonymize too, that's possible if we use I2P together with TOR (because it's impossible to surf the web secure since not all provider/sites using a strong encryption for all stuff like content, external content and the whole site).
Open source vs closed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, mostly I agree open not automatically means it's safe at any time (see opensll and other popular projects) but here it would be help to see some source because you talking about trust and how can we trust you without looking in the code? Is there are proof for all your changes you done?
I've explored deep into the hidden depths of this Samsung ROM, and I didn't find anything questionable (but I had already removed around 150 apps, so there wasn't much left) from Samsung's side
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How you do that if you don't have the source for e.g. the radio modem or other closed parts from a stock rom? Via reverse engineering? - You must have spent a lot of time for this ... I was not able to do it and not even any expert here on xda, it's impossible to one man to reverse and understand all stuff it would take years, even with good tools like IDA and 20 years of knowledge. You can maybe, maybe! only see some parts ... but not inspecting all aspects and since there is no reference I guess nobody can't say what's really secure.
Encrypting would only attract suspicion - why does he encrypt his messages? He must have something to hide!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure you have no idea what you talking about, this shows it. It's not about "..but I have nothing to hide!" it's a common thing, maybe you should read this first.
To tag something with secure is very easy but to proof that without anything is almost impossible. One of the benefit you mentioned is to hardening the OS but that also could be done with scripts/binary's or other stuff without downloading the whole rom, xda is full of it - but sadly most of all "security" things here are never really tested or under the scope from known experts. - but people always believe in the hype and the myths!
Don't get me wrong but maybe you think about it and release something we all can work with (especially the changes only as a diff or something).
CHEF-KOCH said:
I like the effort but there are seriously some thinks you may not know what you are talking about, maybe because lack of knowledge.
Most DNS lookups are local to the exit node with occasional use of Google DNS, changing a DNS itself is no guarantee for more security since the data needs to be anonymize too, that's possible if we use I2P together with TOR (because it's impossible to surf the web secure since not all provider/sites using a strong encryption for all stuff like content, external content and the whole site).
Well, mostly I agree open not automatically means it's safe at any time (see opensll and other popular projects) but here it would be help to see some source because you talking about trust and how can we trust you without looking in the code? Is there are proof for all your changes you done?
How you do that if you don't have the source for e.g. the radio modem or other closed parts from a stock rom? Via reverse engineering? - You must have spent a lot of time for this ... I was not able to do it and not even any expert here on xda, it's impossible to one man to reverse and understand all stuff it would take years, even with good tools like IDA and 20 years of knowledge. You can maybe, maybe! only see some parts ... but not inspecting all aspects and since there is no reference I guess nobody can't say what's really secure.
Sure you have no idea what you talking about, this shows it. It's not about "..but I have nothing to hide!" it's a common thing, maybe you should read this first.
To tag something with secure is very easy but to proof that without anything is almost impossible. One of the benefit you mentioned is to hardening the OS but that also could be done with scripts/binary's or other stuff without downloading the whole rom, xda is full of it - but sadly most of all "security" things here are never really tested or under the scope from known experts. - but people always believe in the hype and the myths!
Don't get me wrong but maybe you think about it and release something we all can work with (especially the changes only as a diff or something).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m sorry you feel that way. Did you install the rom at all?
Dear Dev,
Thanks for the ROM for our grand community, but after 5.0 Lollipop do you think people will shift to 4.1 ICS again?
Anyways very nice effort for great customization.
:good::good::good::good::good:
unclefab said:
UNA IS FOR YOU IF:​. You are willing to learn how to use an unconventional ROM and generally speaking to understand how things work, even if it sometimes requires a little effort to fix this or that little problem (bear in mind that it took us a lot of work to develop Una to where it is now),
. You don't mind a few little occasional bugs here and there that come from all the restrictions the ROM contains,
. You want to take back ownership of your phone from google’s claws.
UNA IS NOT FOR YOU IF:​. All that you care about is the latest gimmick in the latest OS,
. You can't live without the google’s apps,
. You are the kind of person that never reads through the OP and only scroll down to the download section, and then complain that things don't work and/or ask stupid questions in which are answered OP. An example? One guy makes a mod and writes clearly in OP that it's specifically for 4.2.2. Then some people complain: "it doesn't work on 4.4.2"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hemant4409 said:
Dear Dev,
Thanks for the ROM for our grand community, but after 5.0 Lollipop do you think people will shift to 4.1 ICS again?
Anyways very nice effort for great customization.
:good::good::good::good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think everything is quite well explained and your question answered in the OP. Thank you for your interest.
hemant4409 said:
Dear Dev,
Thanks for the ROM for our grand community, but after 5.0 Lollipop do you think people will shift to 4.1 ICS again?
Anyways very nice effort for great customization.
:good::good::good::good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ..never
Edit: and 4.1 is not ICS
I expected that kind of reply, from you or from one of the forum's security experts, the same people that ignored me when I offered to share knowledge and to give advices/opinions on the security thread.
CHEF-KOCH said:
Most DNS lookups are local to the exit node with occasional use of Google DNS, changing a DNS itself is no guarantee for more security since the data needs to be anonymize too, that's possible if we use I2P together with TOR (because it's impossible to surf the web secure since not all provider/sites using a strong encryption for all stuff like content, external content and the whole site). .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I m not the guy that developed Tor, what you are talking about is his business, not mine.
All what i did was to change google's DNS in Tor's code, period.
Well, mostly I agree open not automatically means it's safe at any time (see opensll and other popular projects) but here it would be help to see some source because you talking about trust and how can we trust you without looking in the code? Is there are proof for all your changes you done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody needs to trust me.
As I wrote in OP (did you read it?):
You don't have to take our word for it, just download and install Network Log from here:
https://f-droid.org/repository/brows...ode.networklog
Give it root permission, start logging and open some web pages. Come back to Network Log after a few minutes and see for yourself, you'll be surprised (or maybe horrified?) to find out that your android system, your settings, your kernel etc. connect to all sorts of funny IPs, including and foremost google’s.
Now you see what we mean?
It's time to go for Una
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install the ROM, and see by yourself how it behaves.
Another thing is that all the installed apps in the ROM are open source, apart from 2 that I have reverse engineered, inspected and restricted (Greenify and Quick Pic), and as I said in OP people are fee to uninstall them.
To be honest, on my daily ROM I do use some closed source apps that are very good, that only have legit permissions, that don t spy on me whatsoever, and that dont connect anywhere.
But sadly I couldn t include them in this ROM, because I knew that if I had done it people like you would have criticized me.
How you do that if you don't have the source for e.g. the radio modem or other closed parts from a stock rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Radio modem and the like are closed source, and I never said that I did anything there.
But that s the same in an AOSP or CM ROM, and the only way to overcome that problem is either replicant (but they don support many devices) or baseband isolation.
I have full baseband isoltaion on my daily ROM, but hey, do you think that i could make such a ROM for public release? Do you think that people would like a ROM that transforms their phone in a wifi only device, and need to connect to a modem to have data connection and to call or receive sms'?
Still, people can achieve baseband isolation on this Una Rom, instructions are in OP.
Anyway, all what I said, again in OP is that :
spying that is present on AOSP too since it's google’s material as well (compare the apps' permissions and the network connections in an AOSP/custom ROM and in a stock ROM, it's more or less the same, or better, look at the code).
You can't do everything you want on a closed source ROM (I bet you can't on AOSP either), but to edit and clean the system you don't need the full source code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You see?
I have removed over 100 system apps, dozens of jars, some xmls and libs, then I have cleaned the remaining apps and jars, then I have set very carefully and very restrictivey the firewall, App Settings and Xprivacy, then I have applied other security related tweaks and yes, Una is secure.
No more data mining, no more unwanted internet connections to google, amazon and who knows where, if that s not secure for you then I don t know what can be called secure.
To tag something with secure is very easy but to proof that without anything is almost impossible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
Once more, you don t need to trust me.
Install the ROM, open Network Log, look at the Task Manager etc., and see what happens.
maybe you think about it and release something we all can work with (especially the changes only as a diff or something).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you need to get anything from someone like me?
You said that I don t know what I am talking about, that I have a lack of knowledge etc., so why would such an expert like you benefit from it?
By the way, did you try the ROM?
BTW again, thanks for the link but sorry, I still don't feel concerned.
I don t use my phone for bank transactions, I m not working on big secret projects, I have blocked adds in the host files and I never get any spam.
Still, thanks for remembering me about encryption, I had forgotten to add in the encryption chapter in OP that Una has encryption apps (APG, Conversations, K9 Mail, Text Secure).
@hemant4409
First, the galaxy Grand will never get Lollipop from Samsung.
From custom ROMs, maybe, but that s not the point.
If people like more gimmicks and fancy transitionts than security it s their problem....
Congrats to all your work and the time spent on the Security subject and thanks for taking the time to share your work. This is the first time I see such a custom rom on XDA (on Internet I'd say) so I wanted to express my gratitude.
Hats off.
You provide a lot of information about security and privacy and the first question is 'No screenshots?' lol
Primokorn said:
Congrats to all your work and the time spent on the Security subject and thanks for taking the time to share your work. This is the first time I see such a custom rom on XDA (on Internet I'd say) so I wanted to express my gratitude.
Hats off.
You provide a lot of information about security and privacy and the first question is 'No screenshots?' lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's screenshots
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59640778&postcount=4
oskar01 said:
Here's screenshots
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59640778&postcount=4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG!! He was kidding:cyclops:
I’m sorry you feel that way. Did you install the rom at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm dl'ed the rom and see what whas changed because a friend asked me to make a statement if this rom really secure anything. Btw no need to quote all stuff over and over again and again.
All what i did was to change google's DNS in Tor's code, period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't change something you don't have access to or something that is important if we talking about DNS, you can't change the exit nodes. And as mentioned changing a DNS server is no guarantee since they also can log your stuff - it's all about trust, sure - but an OpenNIC without logging (that's proofed) would more help. For more security related stuff about DNS please first read this and this. DNS is not secure anymore, no matter which provider and according to the NSA they have some techniques to identify and infiltrate some servers.
Nobody needs to trust me.
As I wrote in OP (did you read it?):
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, nobody force anyone to install and use your stuff, that's what I'm not saying - but to say x and y was removed or changed is very hard to trust without anything except your words. It's no offensive at all.
Another thing is that all the installed apps in the ROM are open source, apart from 2 that I have reverse engineered, inspected and restricted (Greenify and Quick Pic), and as I said in OP people are fee to uninstall them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I simply not care about the apps, no matter if it contains malware or not, as long they not have any root access or internet connection is simply has no effect. Most apps today do not want to destroy the hardware, they just want to collect and grap your private data and send them back if you turn wifi on (which makes t harder, because without deep package inspection you won't ever notice that there are some wired behaviors with app xy.
... people like you would have criticized me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you just one of the people that can't handle valid arguments or is unable to accept any other arguments we can just stop the whole discussion. - What I've learned from xda is that some people are unable to discuss and calling the moderator instead (for no reasons). It's not against your work, it's to inform and to show others if it's really offers that what you promise here or not. I really hope you understand it.
But that s the same in an AOSP or CM ROM,..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not some roms use (outdated) open source modem sources, like CM which is always a big discussion because people "always" complaining about signal related stuff and possible battery drains. Or in other words some people say that with a stock modem/radio they have a better signal compared to CM.
I have removed over 100 system apps, dozens of jars, some xmls and libs, then I have cleaned the remaining apps and jars, then I have set very carefully and very restrictivey the firewall, App Settings and Xprivacy, then I have applied other security related tweaks and yes, Una is secure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing security apps is the last line of defense, not the first. Read more about here. I guess you not touched the network code (because it's closed) so that won't change anything at all.
Install the ROM, open Network Log, look at the Task Manager etc., and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same again that won't change something on application layer, tor is also affected.
.. so why would such an expert like you benefit from it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I not use it, as said a friend asked me because he usually like your work.
.. I have blocked adds in the host files and I never get any spam.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blocking ads via hosts file not works if you change your mobile connection from e.g. 2G/3G/wifi/lan since on most roms the hosts never gets a re-apply. If you not getting any ads you are a lucky boy but it's very decency on which www your are or which addon you use. If you use Firefox/Plae Moon just use uBlock and configurate the filter list (so no ads at all too) but that not works for apps (but there are also minminguard or adaway [hosts] for it. Sad think about the hosts seems that it coasts more battery and usually takes longer to boot - but okay, anyway matter of taste which stuff you prefer.
Text Secure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better link or integrate the SMSSecure it's based on Text Secure but encrypts SMS (since Text Secure removed that for some reasons).
.. security related tweaks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one? TCP/IP stack hardening, protocol changes like only forcing to use latest TLS or what? You see some important details are missing.
I expected that kind of reply, from you or from one of the forum's security experts, the same people that ignored me when I offered to share knowledge and to give advices/opinions on the security thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I reply'ed to this thread but my answer was way to long so I got a loading problem (the reasons I asked a mod to remove my post). I'm working on something but it's not fully done yet. The problem is that it will be the longest post here on XDA ever (if I release it here - I'm not really a xda fan) and it's very complicated so there will be a lot of people that may possible will never understand all stuff.
So, sorry if you feel that I "ignored" your post. But feel free to visit my Github stuff or just visit infosec institute to read my other stuff.
So the main question is here if you show us your mods or not? Or if you plan to release a "hardening package" or not? That's all I want to talk about.
@CHEF-KOCH
You came out of the blue on this thread, basically saying that I'm a moron that doesn't know what he's talking about and implying that this ROM is garbage, then you said you will download the rom and make a statement about whether it's secure or not.
And...?
Nothing, but you edited your post with the following:
So the main question is here if you show us your mods or not? Or if you plan to release a "hardening package" or not? That's all I want to talk about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that fair?
Seriously, what would you think and what would you do if you were me?
If this ROM is garbage, prove it.
Otherwise, go polluting another thread...
unclefab said:
@CHEF-KOCH
You came out of the blue on this thread, basically saying that I'm a moron that doesn't know what he's talking about and implying that this ROM is garbage, then you said you will download the rom and make a statement about whether it's secure or not.
And...?
Nothing, but you edited your post with the following:
Is that fair?
Seriously, what would you think and what would you do if you were me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't bother with @CHEF-KOCH. He just want you to share your knowledge with him, so he can "use" it and make you look like an idiot! Also, he is a liar, he didn't come here because of a "friend" but because of my post on your security thread. When he had some strange "loading issues" I also asked him very politely where was the problem....he never bother to reply, and he deleted the post, so what kind of person he is? He is a hater, and a spitter and "no constructive help" from him, so don't lose your time with him!
I'm giving up, useless to talk here.
CHEF-KOCH said:
I'm giving up, useless to talk here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you mister know it all, and please don t come back, there are plenty of other threads to pollute...
Too bad that you couldn t prove that this rom is garbage
And too bad that you are too arrogant to admit that you were wrong when you implied that I m an idiot and that this rom is garbage...
i can only post one :thumbup: per post , but if i could then ........... :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: , at least some knowledgeable people are trying.
"all I can really do , is stay out of my own way and let the will of heaven be done"
Awesome thread
I do not have Grand but my brother has it. I was searching a rom for him and found your thread. I must say I did not find any thread like you in at least Samsung area. You people did a great work. Security is a great concern and if you secure the system then it itself become light weight because you take out spyware craps out of it. I appreciate your work. Good job man. Pleas e develop something in Note 3 LTE section as well.

[Q] What is everyone doing for privacy?

I'm running Chroma Lollipop with Xposed. I've considered privacy with app permissions but every time I try to implement it I get overwhelmed and give up. I see that Chroma comes with Privacy Guard built in, which looks farily simple, and I've also purchased XPrivacy Pro and tried that but current don't have it. I'm looking for a little feedback on what everyone else is using (or nothing if that's the case), and which route I should go.
A. Turn on Privacy Guard by default. This seems like a simple option.
B. Use XPrivacy crowd sourcing. XPrivacy seems like the more powerful option, but the crowd sourcing doesn't catch everything, and I really don't want to go though all my apps and think about every permission. That seems like a really daunting task (maybe I've overestimating). A balance between privacy and simplicity is important to me.
I'm just using built in 6.0 permissions things where it just asks for permission to do anything for the first time
StykerB said:
I'm just using built in 6.0 permissions things where it just asks for permission to do anything for the first time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THAT is the proper way ^^^
HOWEVER, just be aware that there are some significant limitations to the... limitations... that aosp permissions are able to impose. For example, you can't deny INTERNET to any application, since google has deemed that one to be universally required (for distribution of advertisements). BUT, at least it allows you to prevent access to your contact list to applications that use the internet, which means that it can't just automatically send your contact list to spammers without your consent.

SU binary cloaking?

In doing my taxes, I noticed that the H&R Block app tries to execute su (which I promptly deny) and then nags about my device being compromised (app still works anyways.) It's obviously not, but it got me thinking: Since we're operating in the kernel now, I figure that we should be able to prevent apps from seeing the su binary at all unless we as the device owners explicitly want the app to be able to see it. Maybe even do something like allow creation of an app whitelist and/or blacklist.
If it's tricky to pull off, make it a pro feature (I paid for pro.)
I imagine this would fix Android pay as well (though I don't use it so I don't care) but it might be a motivating reason for others to want such a feature.
Other benefits to this include enhanced security against questionable apps that might, for example, try to take advantage of possible zero day in SuperSU itself.
I could be wrong, but isn't systemless SuperSU installed to ramdisk?
Also since the mount points are still on top of /system (without actually modifying system), doesn't that mean it would be visible anyway?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Not if you only exposed the mount point to specific users, and only set the $PATH variable to specific users (which is another possible way to detect root.)
There are a lot of things that can be done, that can be done in theory, that can be done if somebody puts the work in, etc.
Outside of just a time investment, these things are very complicated to do and have them work on a large number of devices.
That's not even considering the legal repercussions.
There are a lot of apps that check for just the existence of 'su' and then you're done. Or if an installed app has a name like 'supersu'.
One that's been a constant thorn in my side has been 'Good for Enterprise'. Only way I've seen where a rooted phone worked past root detection was when it was a Cyanogenmod type that had a custom root (non supersu) built into the development settings and you installed/ran the app with those root settings off.
So agreed with Chainfire that all apps check for root differently.
Use "rootcloak" or simply disable supersu if you are system-less. The only caveat with using rootcloak is that it requires xposed and it is dreadful at hiding xposed meaning any security app looking for xposed will more than likely find it

Apps from backup constantly crash

Hey folks, I've searched and searched and searched, and to date I haven't been able to track down a salient answer on this subject.
When doing a clean install of my rom, which I typically do when there are major changes in an update or when my phone has started to run really poorly, unless I set SELinux permanently to permissive (which is an arduous process on the nexus 6 and requires specific SU), and app that I restore from backup crashes.
I would like an option that allows me to leave SELinux in enforcing mode while also being able to restore app backups. This is really important for apps like google authenticator, among others.
I'm running a Nexus 6 with CM 13 (typically within the most recent couple of nightly builds). I have to use SuperSU in order to run the scripts to persistently set SELinux to permissive, which gets annoying to do every time I update.
Have you tried using another ROM
rollerce said:
Hey folks, I've searched and searched and searched, and to date I haven't been able to track down a salient answer on this subject.
When doing a clean install of my rom, which I typically do when there are major changes in an update or when my phone has started to run really poorly, unless I set SELinux permanently to permissive (which is an arduous process on the nexus 6 and requires specific SU), and app that I restore from backup crashes.
I would like an option that allows me to leave SELinux in enforcing mode while also being able to restore app backups. This is really important for apps like google authenticator, among others.
I'm running a Nexus 6 with CM 13 (typically within the most recent couple of nightly builds). I have to use SuperSU in order to run the scripts to persistently set SELinux to permissive, which gets annoying to do every time I update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a feeling the app in question isn't XDA friendly... So I have no advice... Unless you feel like divulging the name...
I encounter this after a clean flash, especially with AdAway. Only in my case, SELinux is always enforcing. The solution in my case is to run the app once so it generates its data and configuration files, then restore its data using the backup app of choice.
rignfool said:
I have a feeling the app in question isn't XDA friendly... So I have no advice... Unless you feel like divulging the name...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already said Google authenticator, which offers no way to restore your 2-factor authenticators on the app (of which I have 6). Is that not XDA friendly? But, hey since you asked, here is a list of the apps that are affected by this issue, being as you feel the need to know.
Google Authenticator
Microsoft Account
Steam Guard
Grindr
A handful of hidden object games I'm addicted to
A handful of clicker games that I'm also addicted to
A handful of other games that offer no save backup.
My banking app (which requires a half hour on hold with my bank to set up if I have to do a clean setup of the app)
Weather and Clock widget (Offers no configuration backup)
Snapchat (requires an annoying workaround to set up when rooted with xposed)
Please, illuminate which of these are not XDA friendly. I'd sure like to know, Mr. Arrogant Presumptypants.
I use a pre-malware copy of ES File Explorer (see signature) to back up and restore apps and don't have this problem with Google Authenticator or my banking app. On the apps where I do encounter this, clearing data, running the app once, then restoring the data works for me. What are you using to back up apps?
rollerce said:
I already said Google authenticator, which offers no way to restore your 2-factor authenticators on the app (of which I have 6). Is that not XDA friendly? But, hey since you asked, here is a list of the apps that are affected by this issue, being as you feel the need to know.
Google Authenticator
Microsoft Account
Steam Guard
Grindr
A handful of hidden object games I'm addicted to
A handful of clicker games that I'm also addicted to
A handful of other games that offer no save backup.
My banking app (which requires a half hour on hold with my bank to set up if I have to do a clean setup of the app)
Weather and Clock widget (Offers no configuration backup)
Snapchat (requires an annoying workaround to set up when rooted with xposed)
Please, illuminate which of these are not XDA friendly. I'd sure like to know, Mr. Arrogant Presumptypants.
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First off... No... You didn't say google authenticator...
I thought you were talking about lucky patcher...
Oh...
And good luck...
rignfool said:
First off... No... You didn't say google authenticator...
I thought you were talking about lucky patcher...
Oh...
And good luck...
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Third paragraph of my original post: "This is really important for apps like google authenticator, among others." Your observational skills leave much to be desired.
In his defense, you used Google Authenticator as an example, which is where the confusion likely came in. No one knew which apps you had installed until you listed them. However, he was wrong to assume Lucky Patcher here.
In short, you both messed up here, so think about moving on to actually trying to resolve your problem.
rollerce said:
Third paragraph of my original post: "This is really important for apps like google authenticator, among others." Your observational skills leave much to be desired.
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You seem to have me confused with customer service...
Good day sir
Ok, so now that we have the confusion with Sir Snooty Presumptypants from Upper Harumphington figured out, can anyone tender some advice on how to backup these apps and run them after a restore WITHOUT having to set SELinux permissive?
Would it help if encryption was disabled (which is yet another arduous process on the nexus 6).
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I use a pre-malware copy of ES File Explorer (see signature) to back up and restore apps and don't have this problem with Google Authenticator or my banking app. On the apps where I do encounter this, clearing data, running the app once, then restoring the data works for me. What are you using to back up apps?
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I use Rom Toolbox Pro.
rollerce said:
I use Rom Toolbox Pro.
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One last question: what Superuser app are you using?
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
One last question: what Superuser app are you using?
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In order to disable SELinux at boot (so that i'm not flooded with app crash dialogues), I have to do a complicated thing. AFAIK, only superSU supports the complicated thing. I'm looking for other options, though. Preferably ones that allow me to use magisk.
rollerce said:
In order to disable SELinux at boot (so that i'm not flooded with app crash dialogues), I have to do a complicated thing. AFAIK, only superSU supports the complicated thing. I'm looking for other options, though. Preferably ones that allow me to use magisk.
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I don't think any of the open source Superuser options will work for your needs, as their authors don't like the fact SuperSU can manipulate SELinux on the fly. Thus SELinux has to be set to permissive for things to function correctly, if not using SuperSU.
As to Magisk, I can't answer that as I don't use any apps that require su be hidden.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I don't think any of the open source Superuser options will work for your needs, as their authors don't like the fact SuperSU can manipulate SELinux on the fly. Thus SELinux has to be set to permissive for things to function correctly, if not using SuperSU.
As to Magisk, I can't answer that as I don't use any apps that require su be hidden.
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Are there any options for setting selinux permissive permanently rather than waiting till after booting into the rom?
rollerce said:
Are there any options for setting selinux permissive permanently rather than waiting till after booting into the rom?
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I'm not sure. seSuperuser does have a configuration script that you can set, and I believe it affects SELinux. The Play Store should also have apps that can change SELinux.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I'm not sure. seSuperuser does have a configuration script that you can set, and I believe it affects SELinux. The Play Store should also have apps that can change SELinux.
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I'll invistigate seSuperuser. An app that runs after boot won't work for me, because of the constant app crash dialogues preventing me from actually doing anything.
rollerce said:
I'll invistigate seSuperuser. An app that runs after boot won't work for me, because of the constant app crash dialogues preventing me from actually doing anything.
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From what I recall the apps in question permanently change SELinux to the desired setting, but I simply don't know as I haven't needed to use one.
Checking out what you linked to, you should be able to automate that by modifying one of the boot scripts in /system/etc so it runs on every boot.
Well, dissapointingly, I've fixed the issue by restoring backups using titanium backup instead of rom toolbox. I'll have to communicate with the developer of rom toolbox about the shortcoming.

I wouldn't be in such a hurry for "Q"

https://www.xda-developers.com/android-q-storage-access-framework-scoped-storage/
... Looks like porting old pie roms to new phones is going to become a thing
According to what I've read, it would be very easy to build a workaround for it, especially considering Google already has a workaround in place until Q apps are enforced in Google Play.
Also looks like it might be a pain in the ass
I cannot believe what I just read. I wasn't aware this was coming and I couldn't despise the decision more.
Proper access to the file system was for me one of the main advantages Android offered over iOS.
Way to go, Google...
I think this is the best move Google made for security thus far. Too many apps ask for full unfettered access to my storage. I will be happy when apps get a little bit more locked down in this aspect.
Scott said:
I think this is the best move Google made for security thus far. Too many apps ask for full unfettered access to my storage. I will be happy when apps get a little bit more locked down in this aspect.
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It's not even just storage, it's to everything these days. Why does the app for my Apex Fusion interface on my reef tank need access to contacts and text messages?
On topic, I agree 100% with you.
Those tears in my eyes... yeah not because of the blue light in the middle of the night here... because of what I read... agree +1
I personally think it's a good move. I don't use a lot of apps because of their required permissions.
Well if you can disable Q's "scooped storage" on per app basis with adb shell then it's easy to write a script that enables general storage for every app.
Sent from my OnePlus 6T through Tapatalk
hank81 said:
Well if you can disable Q's "scooped storage" on per app basis with adb shell then it's easy to write a script that enables general storage for every app.
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True, but I'm sure eventually, just like with most every other special permission these days, you will wind up having to enable it on every boot.
Yes, the entire bug report is atrocious, but let's not get our pitchforks just yet. Google effectively punted on this for Android Q, by making it possible to contribute business as usual. It's quite possible that these issues will be resolved by Android P, or even that the whole idea will be scrapped in favor of something else.
The fact of the matter is that storage permissions in Android are terrible, Trying to address that is not in and of itself a bad thing, in fact I would argue that part alone is a good thing.
Attempting to read the tea leaves a little, this whole project reeks of "new hotshot product manager with poor (at best) understanding of the technical complexities at play forces bad decision into product because he needs to make 'highly visible' changes to the product to demonstrate his worth or get himself promoted". Especially given that the general idea at play isn't the part people are complaining about, just the fact that it's currently technically unusable as a posix api replacement, but the fact that the current one they have is terrible/slow/etc I find the above scenario to be highly likely
partcyborg said:
Attempting to read the tea leaves a little, this whole project reeks of "new hotshot product manager with poor (at best) understanding of the technical complexities at play forces bad decision into product because he needs to make 'highly visible' changes to the product to demonstrate his worth or get himself promoted". Especially given that the general idea at play isn't the part people are complaining about, just the fact that it's currently technically unusable as a posix api replacement, but the fact that the current one they have is terrible/slow/etc I find the above scenario to be highly likely
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Thats deep!
Scott said:
Thats deep!
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Lots of adult beverages to come up with this ?
Ayahuasca ?
Scott said:
I think this is the best move Google made for security thus far. Too many apps ask for full unfettered access to my storage. I will be happy when apps get a little bit more locked down in this aspect.
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I don't get this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you already disable specific permission for every app through system settings? Unless something like a wallpaper app refuses to work without access to your phone's contacts or something. Do you get what I'm saying?
roaduardo said:
I don't get this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you already disable specific permission for every app through system settings? Unless something like a wallpaper app refuses to work without access to your phone's contacts or something. Do you get what I'm saying?
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Not exactly. Storage access in the current world is a binary yes/no decision (well, 2 binary yes/no decisions if your device has a SD card slot), either "yes here is access to all of /sdcard" or "no you can't read or write to anything outside your specific app data folder". Using something like the API gives you the ability to do much more fine grained access like "give Poweramp access to my normal music collection in /sdcard/Music, but not my keepassxc password file.", Or "let photos index all the pics it finds on my machine, except for the ones in a 'certain' telegram folder".
The cause for pitchforks in the bug report isn't that people are in love with the posix apis for file access, just that the current Android API implementation is something like 50x slower in Android Q, making it essentially useless for file manager apps that need to do things like directory listings and maintain indexes of all shared storage, etc.

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