Corsair Says Bug, Not Keylogger, Behind Some K100 Keyboards' Creepy Behavior (arstechnica.com) 35
Keylogger-like behavior has some Corsair K100 keyboard customers concerned. Several users have reported their peripheral randomly entering text into their computer that they previously typed days or weeks ago. However, Corsair told Ars Technica that the behavior is a bug, not keylogging, and it's possibly related to the keyboard's macro recording feature. From a report: A reader tipped us off to an ongoing thread on Corsair's support forum that a user started in August. The user claimed that their K100 started typing on its own while they use it with a MacBook Pro, gaming computer, and KVM switch. "Every couple of days, the keyboard has started randomly typing on its own while I am working on the MacBook. It usually seems to type messages that I previously typed on the gaming PC and it won't stop until I unplug the keyboard and plug it back in," the user, "brendenguy," wrote.
Ten users seemingly responded to the thread (we can't verify the validity of each claim or account, but Corsair confirmed this is a known issue), reporting similar experiences. [...] Corsair confirmed to Ars that it's received "several" reports of the K100 acting like this but affirmed that "there's no hardware function on the keyboard that operates as a key logger." The company didn't immediately respond to follow-up questions about how many keyboards were affected. "Corsair keyboards unequivocally do not log user input in any way and do not have the ability to log individual keystrokes," Corsair's rep told Ars Technica.
Ten users seemingly responded to the thread (we can't verify the validity of each claim or account, but Corsair confirmed this is a known issue), reporting similar experiences. [...] Corsair confirmed to Ars that it's received "several" reports of the K100 acting like this but affirmed that "there's no hardware function on the keyboard that operates as a key logger." The company didn't immediately respond to follow-up questions about how many keyboards were affected. "Corsair keyboards unequivocally do not log user input in any way and do not have the ability to log individual keystrokes," Corsair's rep told Ars Technica.
Bug not keylogger (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like the bug IS a keylogger. If it's remembering things you typed, it's a keylogger, regardless of what else you might want to call it.
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Re:Bug not keylogger (Score:5, Informative)
So I know this is crazy but I read the manual [corsair.com] and this keyboard has 8MB of onboard storage for settings and macros. When the Corsair iCue software is running the keyboard is operated in "software mode" where keystrokes are interpreted and optionally remapped by the driver, when it is not then you can still use macros you stored to the keyboard with iCue. So Corsair may or may not be right about where the problem is, but the keyboard absolutely could function as a keylogger.
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You have to store macros on the keyboard or else you're going to trigger anticheat software with software on the PC sending the keyboard keystrokes in certain situations or a delay while software sends the information to the keyboard and it then sends the keystrokes back. Small delay I'm sure but a noticeable one none the less.
They're trying to be coi about the phrasing of what is a keylogger, in the sense of it's not recording and uploading the keystrokes kind of things.
By definition, the ability to record
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That'd make sense as implementing the macro feature within the keyboard hardware itself would mean NVRAM or Flash (and associated controllers) inside the keyboard, and would increase the power consumption of the keyboard itself to a point that it wouldn't work with many KVMs.
That's kind of hilarious.
The thing already draws an amp and a half to barf out 6+ watts of RGB lighting.
It already doesn't work with "many" KVMs, it requires a "gaming KVM" that supports its data protocol (icue in this case) since swapping around a standard HID profile isn't going to work.
As to "NVRAM or Flash (and associated controllers) inside the keyboard"...
On the white PCB, we find the heart of the K100 RGB, an NXP LPC54605J512 microprocessor. The ARM Cortex M4 microprocessor has a frequency of 180 MHz
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Having chips pulling double duty is one thing, like how the PC keyboard controller once also controlled access to protected mode (A20 gate).
This grows into all kinds of undefined functionality as all these components get consolidated into “chipset” chips. I’m certain the broader concern of chip-level vulnerability has already been with us for a long time.
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people mean something different by the word keylogger
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Yup. Record vs. log folks. A keylogger automatically records generally everything, i.e.: It keeps a log. A log is recording and documentation of the function of the hardware device, dumped or uploaded periodically to a data file, either in its entirely or selectively as configured.
You could record macros in DOS ffs. Old electronic typewriters have memory. That's not a log. That's recording. If you make a recording with your microphone, your microphone is not logging audio.
Wait, what? (Score:2)
A keyboard that starts typing on its own every day?
Man, I gotta get me one of these at work.
A Quantum Keyboard (Score:5, Funny)
Both a logger and not a logger at the same time.
Question: How do you make a macro keyboard that doesn't log keystrokes?
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It only records keystrokes when you tell it to do so. Just like a light switch. The light is either on or off depending on how you set the switch. The light does not magically turn on or off on its own.
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Unless someone or something else can control the switch.
WTF (Score:1)
That is the very definition of a key logger.
Queue lots of Slashdotters (Score:5, Insightful)
who don't understand the nuance in language between a device that has functionality of logging keys, and a keylogger: Software specifically designed for covert recording of key strokes.
I only read Slashdot for the comments but I suspect the chance of any meaningful discussion taking place in this story will be slim.
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Mod parent up. Corsair's explanation sounds reasonable. The keyboard's macro capabilities are prominently advertised. I haven't used it nor their software, but if it has macro recording (i.e. you press a button, tap out your macro, then press a button to save it), it stands to reason that a software bug (or more than one) could cause it to
1. Start recording unexpectedly
2. Start playback unexpectedly
Nothing about it is inherently nefarious.
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Exactly. Old electronic typewriters had memory, ffs. In other news, tin foil sales are up.
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Re:Queue lots of Slashdotters (Score:4, Insightful)
who don't understand the nuance in language between a device that has functionality of logging keys, and a keylogger: Software specifically designed for covert recording of key strokes.
The first and only law of this 1984/brave-new-world Hellscape in which we life: if it can be abused, it will be abused.
Corsair says, don't buy our keyboards (Score:1)
We are so inept that we can't produce something as basic as a keyboard without some odd bug. I mean, it's so hard, you press a key and the keyboard sends a very exact, specific signal to the operating system. See, like super complex shit here man, give us some grace.
Re:Corsair says, don't buy our keyboards (Score:5, Insightful)
It's more complex than you think. Consider this: we're almost in 2023, and no keyboard maker has managed yet to include a proper "Any" key into their keyboards. How are we supposed to continue, then? Consider the countless hours wasted figuring out where this key is, finding out it's not there, and rebooting out of rage or despair or both. At least with a Corsair keyboard I could set up a macro to enter "a n y" when I pressed another key... Still not as good as sending the "any" signal to the operating system, but a move in the right direction. So, let's give those guys a break, maybe? They're trying to innovate, and there are still a some challenges ahead!
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Hit Any Key To Continue https://www.1timothy4-13.com/f... [1timothy4-13.com]
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I have a dumber keyboard that doesn't do macros (AFAIK, there's no mention of it in the docs anyway - Aukey KM-G6) and three or four times now it's gotten into a state where I had to replug it because it hung. Actually, one or two of those times I was able to soft-reset it, but not all of them. Anyway cool story right but the important part is that I can set lighting modes per-key, so I know it has some kind of memory...
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Exactly. Per the statement...
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Says the people who don't know what a log is.
Look at your logs, folks. It's a persistent function, not something that turns off and on.
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Love Corsaid PSs, but Corsair Software Rots! (Score:2)
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https://www.corsair.com/us/en/... [corsair.com]
In related news ... (Score:2)
randomly entering text into their computer that they previously typed days or weeks ago
am I using keyboards wrong? (Score:2)
Most of my fancy mechanical keyboards have some macro recording feature. Do I need this, what purpose does it serve that can't be setup more easily with an app? (autokey or xbindkeys on *nix, I don't care about Windoze)
I somewhat like keyboards that can remap keys especially if I switch between a desktop and a laptop where I might have slightly different mappings configured in the OS for ctrl, capslock, escape and `~. But it's not strictly necessary, If given a choice I think I'd prefer the dumbest possible