
Getting root access on a Tesla Model S - waterside81
http://www.su-tesla.space/
======
castratikron
If he's talking about getting root on that big screen in the middle, it's been
done before:

[https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/let-the-hacking-
begi...](https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/let-the-hacking-begin-model-
s-parts-on-the-bench.58951/)

However, the guy who did it before told everyone exactly how he did it,
without any "secret script sorry :^)".

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Hemera-
wk57 got direct access to the CID by unsoldering the ROM from a salvaged
screen. I honestly wouldn't have the guts to do that.

~~~
electriclover
This is an easy way to go if you are good at soldering under a microscope to
put it back together. I've considered doing it this way but I'd prefer to
figure out the software route...

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psiconaut
"This goes through a secret process that eventually gets me connected to the
CID (touchscreen) with root privileges."

give me back my 2 mins, please.

~~~
shiftpgdn
I'm pretty sure that wasn't disclosed as lots of dangerous things could be
done in the wrong hands.

~~~
marssaxman
Like... um.... what, exactly? People could take control of their own vehicles
and exercise the privileges that ought to come with ownership?

The ability to jailbreak a Tesla is the only thing that might make me
interested in owning one.

~~~
spullara
It seems like the new car that you just created should have to be checked out
and approved as street legal. How do you know that the changes you have made
still meet safety regulations and the like?

~~~
marssaxman
One could reasonably propose that things ought to work that way, but that is
not, in fact, the way things have ever worked, at least not in the USA. People
routinely make very substantial alterations to their cars and continue driving
them on the street with no legal process involved. "Street legal" is not an
exacting standard and no inspections are required for an altered vehicle (so
far as I know, anyway) beyond whatever routine process your state requires as
part of the registration process. (Here in Washington state, that's just an
emissions test.)

I used to be part of a 4x4 club; we routinely rebuilt our trucks' suspensions,
changed out the gearing, replaced wheels and tires with bigger ones, installed
power steering systems adapted from some other type of vehicle, swapped our
engines or axles out for bigger, tougher ones, swapped out entire drivetrains
- you name the component, somebody in the club probably modified or replaced
it.

We weren't even doing anything unusual by recreational offroading standards,
much less hot-rodding standards. We weren't building tube frames, and most of
us didn't modify our frames at all. Nobody had ripped off all the sheet metal
on their truck and replaced it all with a molded fiberglass replica; none of
us installed superchargers or nitrous injection or anything like that. I'd
guess no more than half of us even knew how to weld.

Modified cars are on the road all the time; you've seen thousands of them
whether you realize it or not. If this were a big safety problem, there would
have been a moral panic about it decades ago. Tweaking the software in a Tesla
is completely insignificant by comparison. No, it doesn't need to be checked
out and approved.

~~~
spullara
Tweaking the software in autopilot could cause it to kill you and anyone else
on the road. For example, you might accidentally make it not return control to
the driver when it can no longer navigate or cause it to accelerate out of
control. It isn't clear to me that increasing horsepower or changing the
wheels is as significant. There are a bunch of common modifications that are
outright illegal like high/low-riding changes, emissions, lighting, etc.
though it is on a state by state basis in the US.

[http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2012/07/the-
top-5-ille...](http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2012/07/the-
top-5-illegal-car-modifications.html)

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molecule
URL should probably point to article itself, and not blog's homepage.

[http://www.su-tesla.space/2016/04/hack-s.html](http://www.su-
tesla.space/2016/04/hack-s.html)

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settsu
As a tech and automotive geek, I find this interesting and would be interested
in a deeper investigation into the legal implications between the manufacturer
and hacker (software licensing, etc.) as well as how, if any, existing motor
vehicle laws apply.

For context, I drive an old Jeep that has various modifications (AKA lifted,
with various accommodations due to that fact) and I've given little thought to
any legal ramifications. That said, I do live in state (Colorado) that,
legally, has little to nothing to say regarding such modifications, or only
addresses them broadly. In contrast, Utah has a number of very specific
regulations on such modifications.

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RubyPinch
since I was (for some reason) wanting more details,
[https://blog.lookout.com/blog/2015/08/07/hacking-a-
tesla/](https://blog.lookout.com/blog/2015/08/07/hacking-a-tesla/) is
something I came across

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klapinat0r
Would love to hear how the IC-connected network was setup.

> _disconnect the cable from the IC and plug my earlier cable in to it. This
> allowed me to make a special REST call to the CID_

So the cable from the side panel connects to the above network via VPN?
Interesting approach :)

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Overtonwindow
There was something about this recently where someone connected in to their
Tesla. Then their phone rang and it was Tesla engineers telling them to stop.
Did you get a phone call?

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eclipxe
I'm not sure that actually happened. Recently Jason Hughes (wk057) released
some info he found in firmware (P100D) and Tesla engineers rolled back his
firmware remotely, but no one called him AFAIK.

~~~
celticninja
And Tesla said they didn't do it or it was not done in retaliation but rather
to resolve an issue with the firmware version wk057 was running. I think it
eventually got reverted but can't be sure of that.

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schlowmo
Hm, now wait for what could happen next:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255160](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255160)

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elyrly
bugcrowd.com/tesla

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jacob019
sure would like to take a look at that script

~~~
geggam
It is ubuntu....

#!/bin/bash sudo su

