OnePlus devices were recently found to have a security flaw that raised concerns of many users across the globe. In a series of tweets earlier this week, a developer explained how the OnePlus smartphones could have a backdoor root access through an app called EngineerMode. OnePlus has now reverted to the claims with a statement stating that the company would remove this function in a future OxygenOS update. A OnePlus employee who works on OxygenOS has issued an explainer on the OnePlus forum stating "EngineerMode is a diagnostic tool mainly used for factory production line functionality testing and after-sales support." As per the OnePlus employee, the full root privileges of a device cannot be accessed by third-party apps as the APK does not allow it.
The staff member reaffirmed that gaining access to the root privileges also requires USB debugging to be on. By default, the setting is off, thus restricting the EngineerMode. Even though OnePlus states on the blog that the app is not a "major security concern", it has promised to remove the root function from the app in a future update. "While we don't see this as a major security issue, we understand that users may still have concerns and therefore we will remove the adb root function from EngineerMode in an upcoming OTA."
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OnePlus surprisingly kept the EngineerMode on the end user phones, even though it was originally meant for only factory testing. The list of OnePlus devices having EngineerMode includes OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 5. Previously, OnePlus was accused of collecting data from its users' devices which was conceivably an intrusion into the users' privacy.
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