Decode kernel panic from QR Code photo (gist.github.com)

29 pointsby modinfo2 days ago10 comments

jolmg 5 hours ago

For context, kernel panics seem to sometimes be encoded as a URL in the QR code by distros. The panic text is encoded as a numeric parameter. For example:

  https://jexposit.fedorapeople.org/drm-panic/#?a=x86_64&v=6.17.0-rc2+&z=64016708045408584681305161836175901065787789727173061004041671633088591186286363786562987653814347942450168430510852681524688435157911241621365859153819732690406649525043247774110913752991389170560320455163781439079986337356710273501164645667555084821480237326301207073831710176482850121513079951455217310046422632328303510474264780788030301611164774573122018172510304672562667379831349924441560360997679573341401750485619388375493[... many more digits]

That's from the QR code image at:

https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f45-change-proposal-d...

This script is to decode such kernel panics without needing to provide it to an external service.

In the particular URL example, the panic is not necessarily sent to a server, because it's in a URL fragment (`#`), but still.

natas 7 hours ago

I think that's a really good idea! Would love to see this upstream

bri3d 6 hours ago

It is? This is drm-panic qr codes from Linux 6.12. It’s a neat feature but I’m not sure why this random implementation is particularly interesting.

theowaway213456 6 hours ago

Can't a phone decode a QR code natively? I don't even get what it does

hamandcheese 5 hours ago

If you decode it and open the link, you are potentially leaking data to whoever controls the domain of the URL.

catlifeonmars 5 hours ago

Link previews even! Just paste it into a group chat and everyone’s message clients will happily issue a GET request.

charcircuit an hour ago

That's not how it works. The chat app requests the link preview and caches it.

ErroneousBosh 42 minutes ago

This sounds like the panicky adverts from 20-odd years ago "YOUR COMPUTER IS LEAKING YOUR IP ADDRESS!!11!!""2!!2!!"

catlifeonmars 5 hours ago

You can decode a QR code by hand. It’s usually not worth your while but it’s understandable.

kzrdude 3 hours ago

This is about a second step of decoding.

Qr -> URL -> Panic Log