News Jailbroken coin-operated washing machines unlock unlimited free cycles and millions in funds — unpatched security vulnerability could also pose a f...

[Admin]

Sherbrooke and Taranenko of UC Santa Cruz found a flaw in the CSC Serviceworks app called CSC Go, where it has a flawed API allowing a custom script to authorize free laundry cycles, add credits to the account, and bypass its safety checks, potentially making its internet-connected washing machines a fire hazard.

Jailbroken coin-operated washing machines unlock unlimited free cycles and millions in funds — unpatched security vulnerability could also pose a f... : Read more

 

[hotaru251]

and yet another reason some stuff does not be internetified...

there is no reason to have a fridge, washing machine, etc on a network.

 

[Joseph_138]

And now they're probably trying to figure out a way to cash in on the millions of dollars in free credits that they gave themselves.

 

[slightnitpick]

and yet another reason some stuff does not be internetified...

there is no reason to have a fridge, washing machine, etc on a network.

It's ridiculous.

Some day people will be upgrading phones because their new washing machine doesn't work without iOS 33.1 or Android 29.

 

[USAFRet]

Some day people will be upgrading phones because their new washing machine doesn't work without iOS 33.1 or Android 29.

That is likely already happening.

 

[NightForce]

This outfit provides the coin-op laundry for my building. Unresponsive is entirely normal for them, in my experience. We're supposed to have washers and dryers on this app. Since day 1, the dryers have never been visible on the app. This means reverting to quarters to do laundry -whoops the coin box is full or just eats coins. When we try to tell them to come service their equipment, nobody shows up for weeks. And they don't fix it. They don't care if the machines make money or not.

Now, none of the washers appear in the app, alongside the invisible dryers.

What good are laundry machines nobody can actually use? Very good: they pushed me to try the far better laundry down the road. It costs a little more but it actually works, unlike CSC.

 

[DougMcC]

and yet another reason some stuff does not be internetified...

there is no reason to have a fridge, washing machine, etc on a network.

My fridge is internet connected. It notifies me when my intellectually disabled kid leaves the door open. I use that feature about once a week.
My washer/dryer are internet connected, they notify me when laundry is done. Cycle length is unpredictable because it depends on the weight / what is being washed/dryed. I have a lot of laundry to do (about 3.5 loads per day on average), and this spares me constantly checking on it to make sure I can keep the loads going since each one is a couple of hours, it can be hard to squeeze it all in without that feature.

 

[slightnitpick]

My fridge is internet connected. It notifies me when my intellectually disabled kid leaves the door open. I use that feature about once a week.
My washer/dryer are internet connected, they notify me when laundry is done. Cycle length is unpredictable because it depends on the weight / what is being washed/dryed. I have a lot of laundry to do (about 3.5 loads per day on average), and this spares me constantly checking on it to make sure I can keep the loads going since each one is a couple of hours, it can be hard to squeeze it all in without that feature.

Useful for deaf people. Our refrigerator will beep when it's open too long. The washer has an optional beep when it's done. And the dryer stops spinning when it's done (noticeable absence of noise), and I think also has an optional beep. Just listening is enough to hear all of this for us.

 

[Daniel15]

My washer/dryer are internet connected, they notify me when laundry is done

This shouldn't need internet connectivity, though. You're almost always going to be home when the laundry load is running, so it should just use your wifi.

I use Home Assistant for a lot of smart home stuff, and none of it goes over the internet. I access Home Assistant via a VPN when I'm away from home, but none of the devices themselves are directly connected to the internet.

The manufacturers don't like local control because they can't really monetize it later. If it goes through the internet, they can more easily stick a paywall on it in the future.

 

[DougMcC]

Useful for deaf people. Our refrigerator will beep when it's open too long. The washer has an optional beep when it's done. And the dryer stops spinning when it's done (noticeable absence of noise), and I think also has an optional beep. Just listening is enough to hear all of this for us.

Yep. I'm hard of hearing, resulting from incessant screaming of the disabled kid. Those audio clues aren't even close to loud enough to get my attention.