Joe Strazzere - All Things Quality

November 12, 2008 - Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Google Android

Posted in QA

txtN cn B fun - bt danjrus!

Who knew that simply texting the word "reboot" would actually cause a phone to reboot?

Apparently, words texted right after a reboot were interpreted and executed as commands with root priveleges by Android, rather than simply being sent.

A bit of a security flaw, no?

"I was in the middle of a text conversation with my girl when she asked why I hadn't responded. I had just rebooted my phone and the first thing I typed was a response to her text which simply stated "Reboot" - which, to my surprise, rebooted my phone."

"Google hurried to repair the problem, which causes the phone to interpret any text entered just after the phone was turned on as a command."

"Linux and Unix users are advised to use their systems with "root" privileges reserved only for administrators, but Android was actually giving anybody that privilege."

"The Android bug has to rate as one of the great software bloopers of all time."

"We tried really hard to secure Android. This is definitely a big bug."

Perhaps they should have tested more?

Here are a few helpful suggestions for words to use while testing the fix for this particular bug: