[Android Head-Units] chris.davis925:
I want to make one single post to correct this general idea and misconception that has been floating around on this thread since my temporary disappearance on XDA. I also need to correct [MENTION=2301266]aplusmiami[/MENTION] since he himself has made several inferences and stirred the pot even further with his reference to "no fly list".

There are three total root exploit "methods" that have circulated around here and I will restate them here for clarification.

1) root via USB OTG

2) root via custom web server method interfaced on my servers

3) root via metasploit Webview Exploit with reverse shell

I personally explored number 1 with the help of various XDA members which resulted in several brick walls and bricked units. That discussion can be followed here, even in my absence.

Number 3 was something I brought up and explored a while back and even reached out to another XDA member to look over it. The main problem (and reason why I abandoned this) was because the shell session is not root. You cannot make any real changes that are worth while and execution of root binaries I was attempting at the time would drop the standard shell. Fast forward to last week, where I was able to back track and get a root exploit binary to execute correctly without loosing the session. I have been able to make this available to all.

That leaves number 2. Number 2 consisted of a custom web server and scripts that attempted to exploit both the Browser vulnerability and Kenwood running processes - which I was able to have success in. The problem is that I could not and still cannot release the source for this project. Additionally it required manual efforts on my part to actually get it going. Both of these reasons are why I could not and still cannot release this method. I was working toward re-writing or reproducing this in such a way that I could release it to the community. I since abandoned this since number 1 became much much easier.

So, going back to the previous posts - my absence had nothing to do with "Taking my ball and going home" or putting people on a "no fly" list or any other combination of what are, quite frankly, rude and slanderous assumptions for why I wasn't on this forum or why I wasn't able to distribute root at that time.

Now that I am back on XDA and have been able to implement the same root process using Metasploit, I have been able to openly and freely release the exploit process and guide since it doesn't require my manual efforts and binaries/scripts are freely available to the public. It has been correctly noted here that using the web view exploit - at least to my knowledge - has never before been used to root an Android device - maybe because people ran into the same problem I initially did or maybe because it's never been needed.

Regardless I will arrogantly say that I am the most happy person that these units can and have been rooted and even happier now that that everyone has access to it. I hope that others can invest both time and resources into continuing to make this unit run as best as it can, just as I have.

---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 PM ----------

Moving forward, I think there are still some areas that we could really benefit from exploring / resolving. Here is a list of what I think we should be looking into. Let me know if you think they should be in a different order / added /removed.

Things we should look into:

1) Build CWM Recovery image.

2) Circumvent the process that makes the /system partition read-only.

a) This should resolve problems where apps stop working after a reboot, or updating an app stops it from working. I believe some of the data stores also have a read-only block on them.

3) Google Play Store

a) I have already done most of the leg work for this, but resolving number 2 will allow this to fully work.

4) Decrease boot times.

Things that are already done:

1) Root the unit

2) Enable ADB over WiFi

3) Install custom apps

4) Google Play Store (Still in development)