this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024
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[–] angel@sopuli.xyz 98 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Rustdesk looks good on the outside, but if you look inside, it has a really bad codebase and has done some sketchy stuff in the past.

Last year, it installed custom root certificates as trusted on windows, which is a huge security risk: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/discussions/6444

On linux systems, it forced its own autostart with no option to disable this behavior: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/issues/4863

In the past, when it didn’t have Wayland support yet, it edited your GDM config and just disabled wayland: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/blob/1.1.9/src/platform/linux.rs#L411-L422

Furthermore, the code quality is really bad. 90% of the linux platform-dependant code is just executing shell commands and parsing their output, while the same could be achieved in a safe way with proper rust builtins: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/blob/master/src/platform/linux.rs

While I agree that Rustdesk works pretty flawlessly, the codebase and the behavior of the developers made me distrust the software and I don’t recommend using it.

[–] boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net 32 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

@petsoi@discuss.tchncs.de you might want to add that warning to the post.

They also tried to submit the app to Flathub, but had way too broad permissions with no explanation why. "Users expect filesystem access" etc. In the end it was rejected and they publish a .flatpak file themselves.

https://github.com/flathub/flathub/pull/5233

The other points are far worse though.

[–] KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 months ago

Rustdesk controversy

The whole discussion on that pull request is extremely sketchy, IMO.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 25 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

To add on:

  • There is no transparency about who is behind it. It just a Github account called "Rustdesk." It could be a real company in Singapore or it could be some guy in China as people have speculated.

  • The Rustdesk software needs way more permissions than necessary. This became evident with the flatpak as they did sandbox escapes which prevented them from being on flathub

  • The Rustdesk distribution is entirely centralize release server run by Rustdesk. They could easily push out malware to lots of devices.

  • They have done some sketchy things in the past. One of the things they did was quietly switch Linux desktops back to X11.

  • The Rustdesk system is not terribly resistant to brute forcing. The weak password means they someone could try every combination.

  • Rustdesk docker deployment docker compose exposes all ports on the host. This is minor but it could lead to a sandbox excape.

  • Rustdesk servers keep getting hosted in countries that have freedom problems such as China and Russia.

[–] bluetoque@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wow, I'm wondering how anyone would trust this software. It literally exposes your desktop. To me that requires top-tier trust level, i.e. nothing sketchy at all.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 months ago

We need an alternative

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

could be some guy in China

I don't see how that's a problem, it's not like it's by a Chinese run company or like the Chinese government is spying on you; in the case you described it'd just be a rando with a hobby/vision.

The fact that it keeps getting hosted in countries that have freedom problems, such as China and Russia, does concern me, though.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The problem is that China makes developing privacy and freedom friendly tech illegal. You won't find many Tor devs in China

[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

How do they make that illegal?

I can't find much on tech impeding laws online, whatever search terms I enter related to China and privacy just leads me to articles about their data protection law.

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 13 points 2 months ago

Okayyyy… thats not great. I just read one of the threads and thats scary.

The person(s?) maintaining this seems to be VERY BAD at communicating. They did fix the auto start problem but did not at all discuss this from what I see. Thats not great.

[–] highduc@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 months ago

Wow that's so sketchy.

[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 months ago

Really sad about this, because Rust Desk has been the absolute best remote access tool I've ever used in the IT world, and that includes many different professional tools like Ninja& Teamviewer.

It's so clean, easy to install and run, fast and low latency, handles multi-monitors great, runs on mobile, Linux, Windows, etc.

Such a shame that it is mired in controversy.

[–] Psyhackological@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Wth is that, that is the most anti-idiomatic code I have ever seen

https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/blob/master/src%2Fplatform%2Flinux.rs#L176

pub fn get_cursor() -> ResultType> {
    let mut res = None;
    DISPLAY.with(|conn| {
        if let Ok(d) = conn.try_borrow_mut() {
            if !d.is_null() {
                unsafe {
                    let img = XFixesGetCursorImage(*d);
                    if !img.is_null() {
                        res = Some((*img).cursor_serial as u64);
                        XFree(img as _);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    });
    Ok(res)
}

I'm not an expert but this seems wrong.

[–] angel@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago

Yep, I'm not a Rust expert either, but this is pretty cursed. The comments on this post have some more examples of bad rustdesk code: https://lobste.rs/s/njfvjb/rustdesk_with_tailscale_on_arch_linux

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 69 points 2 months ago (2 children)

DO NOT USE THIS

This is a massive security risk and they have had so much controversy. They also routinely delete Github issues and discussions that question them. To top it off they are likely Chinese run.

[–] coolusername@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 months ago (3 children)

China is good though? At least that ensures they aren't a CIA operation.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 13 points 2 months ago

China bans encryption and doesn't allow you to use anything to thwart surveillance. I can't say I want that in a remote access tool.

[–] GlennicusM 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not really. At this point, you're having to pick between two surveillance states.

[–] ReversalHatchery 3 points 2 months ago

or neither, when cloosing open source tools worth their salt. in more and more fields such tools appear, fortunately

[–] ReversalHatchery 3 points 2 months ago

in my book they are more of a risk than the USA. The USA already has political influence, for china to do it they need to use more extreme methods, like infiltrating your computer and use it and perhaps you as their tools

[–] ReversalHatchery 1 points 2 months ago

I had the impression that it has a Russian connection, but anyways, it's good to be in the lookout for such things

[–] pop@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 months ago

Itsfoss is blogspam and often have many mistakes and wrong info. People should really stop posting links from them.

[–] allywilson@lemmy.ml 21 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Wasn't there some controversy about this that it wasn't entirely open-source?

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

Binary blobs i thought

[–] dethada@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

they have a pro server with more features that’s closed source and paid

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But why do you need a server for such a program? Can't it be P2P or with the server stuff running on the client machine?

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 months ago

The server is used for hole punching, to open up a P2P connection thorugh NATs and Firewalls. If it doesn't work the server also relays the traffic between the clients.

Getting an end to end connection through todays internet is unfortunately not easy for an average user.

[–] souperk@reddthat.com 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I have setup a rustdesk server with docker, it was surprisingly easy to get started. It was for a friend who is managing the IT services of a small factory, the completely switched from TeamViewer and they are satisfied. More importantly their users, who are worse than your average windows user, found the transition relatively painless.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 months ago

For what its worth it does have a great UI

[–] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I always neglected it because of its name. I thought it's something for rust...

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I guess it's just written in Rust.

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I tried it and it's works exactly like Anydesk, except it's 5 times slower than Anydesk at least that's on their server, I know I can host it myself but I don't think I have the skill to set it up

[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 8 points 2 months ago

It works very well and there is no speed difference at all. Of course you wont ever get anything worth in life without either putting in the work or paying either with money or your privacy.

[–] Takahe@lemmy.nz 4 points 2 months ago

Does this work on a headless box?

[–] ReversalHatchery 4 points 2 months ago

I was hesitant to open this post because I already know about rustdesk, but eventually I did to see the community's opinion on it. I'm so glad that I did because this is terrible!

I think more people should hear about all of this

[–] Arkhive@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I had my eye on this a few months back when I was looking for a FOSS windows Remote Desktop alternative. Between the security issues, and generally struggle to get it working well, I eventually went to a sunshine/moonlight combo for shockingly high performance screen sharing that can even handle basic gaming if need be.

[–] biscuitswalrus@aussie.zone 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I spent like 20 minutes self hosting and running over tailscale so traffic is always private... Never had an issue. I've got over 20 devices accessible on it.

Easy to remote register over ssh just by sending the installer plus running with server name plus key, then setting a static password.

I still think gaming wide moonlight is great though. You won't really regret that.

[–] Arkhive@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 months ago

Yeah, I was running it through Tailscale too. I’m definitely closer to a newbie than I am a self hosting vet, so there’s likely some fault of mine that made things not run so well.

[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 months ago

Free Software*

[–] plasticcheese@lemmy.one 3 points 2 months ago

I used this recently to help a friend with some tech stuff. The docker images were simple to bring up and within minutes we were connected. It freaked him out how easily I could get on and control his PC. I was impressed by the whole experience.

[–] KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago
[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

ITT: It's sketchy and will possibly mess with your Wayland set up.