GrapheneOS confirms Pixel 11 will have MTE after all
GrapheneOS says Pixel 11 has MTE support after all
GrapheneOS, the security-hardened Android distribution, announced on Mastodon that the Pixel 11 will support Memory Tagging Extensions (MTE), reversing earlier assumptions. The team had previously reported that Google had dropped MTE from the Pixel 11, but new information indicates the feature is still on track. This is significant for Android security, as MTE can detect memory corruption vulnerabilities at runtime, potentially preventing many exploits.
We have good news about the Pixel 11. It still has MTE support after all.
- chekibreki
For anyone else not knowing what MTE stands for:
> Memory safety bugs, which are errors in handling memory in native programming languages, are common code issues. They lead to security vulnerabilities as well as stability problems.
>Armv9 introduced the Arm Memory Tagging Extension (MTE), a hardware extension that allows you to catch use-after-free and buffer-overflow bugs in your native code.
- protimewaster
Unfortunately, the headline is somewhat optimistic compared to the reality, I think.
The thread makes it sound like it could have been disabled due to errata or performance issues. Basically, it looks like the software Google is shipping intentionally doesn't use MTE on the Pixel 11 hardware. That raises the question of...what does Google know is wrong with MTE on the Pixel 11?
- iamnothere
It’s absurd that a small project like Graphene is able to run rings around a giant like Google in the security sphere. Almost makes you wonder if some of those vulnerabilities are intentionally allowed to exist.
Vulnerabilities in the world’s most popular (by volume) mobile OS could provide a plausibly deniable global espionage backdoor.
- moonshot5
AOSP eng here;
I don't interact with Graphene or any of their folks at all; I'm just a distant observer like most folks here.
Still, I can't help but think that Graphene seems to want to complain about everything and anything that doesn't fit their niche use case. (As much as it seems beloved here, people that flash custom Android OSs are the very definition of niche users.)
My personal attitude to Graphene seems to get a bit more negative with each one of these "rants" and I doubt I'd go far out of my way to help them, even if I had exposure to them.
- loufe
I am almost certainly going to live with whatever drawbacks in terms of camera quality, battery life, etc. Come with their Motorola phone when it's time to upgrade. MTE is such a non-negotiable for modern digital security on phones it's crazy Google would be so okay with this regression.
What's especially stuck in my mind lately is how insecure basically all desktop OS' feel. In at the point of buying a second and third GPU for my desktop to run my email and browser in dedicated VMs because everything feels as watertight as a sieve. Qubes seems more and more appealing in a world where every open source software supply chain is under seige, corporate software underprioritizes security, and most sites will stop at almost nothing to surveil you.
I truly lament this new reality where MY computers I PURCHASED feel to use like I'm reaching blind into a paper bag filled with razor blades.
- colincowardly
So not only a price increase: less RAM, performance scraping backwards, crippled/lost features, a camera system that captures stuttering audio and video imperfectly often, and Pixels dropping out of AOSP.
Google Pixel has the marketshare it deserves.
- chasil
"Aside from MTE, Google downgraded the Pixel 11 series GPU compared to the Pixel 10 series in addition to reducing RAM for base Pro models."
I will make a note not to buy this model.
Is this the worst quality control lapse since the Huawei Nexus core failures?
- bushwart
Shouldn't the headline read "GrapheneOS: Pixel 11 has bare minimum hardware level MTE support"?
As currently written, one would take away an entirely different message from the headline.