Keylogger-like habits has some Corsair K100 keyboard clients involved. Several customers have reported their peripheral randomly coming into textual content into their pc that they beforehand typed days or perhaps weeks in the past. However, Corsair advised Ars Technica that the habits is a bug, not keylogging, and it is presumably associated to the keyboard’s macro recording function.
A reader tipped us off to an ongoing thread on Corsair’s assist discussion board {that a} person began in August. The person claimed that their K100 began typing by itself whereas they use it with a MacBook Pro, gaming pc, and KVM change.
“Every couple of days, the keyboard has began randomly typing by itself whereas I’m engaged on the MacBook. It normally appears to sort messages that I beforehand typed on the gaming PC and it will not cease till I unplug the keyboard and plug it again in,” the person, “brendenguy,” wrote.
Ten customers seemingly responded to the thread (we won’t confirm the validity of every declare or account, however Corsair confirmed this can be a recognized difficulty), reporting comparable experiences.
One mentioned their keyboard began coming into a “particular line from a really delicate e mail” whereas interacting with client knowledge with their PC in Safe Mode. One person famous that they do not use Corsair’s iCue software program for programming peripherals however had an analogous expertise. Another mentioned their K100 typed out greater than 100 letters in opposition to their will, and manufacturing facility resets and clearing the keyboard’s reminiscence did not resolve the problem. There are additionally some threads on the Linus Tech Tips discussion board with folks claiming the identical downside. Some clients mentioned they feared they have been hacked on the time, whereas a couple of accused Corsair of stealthy keylogging.
Corsair confirmed to Ars that it is acquired “a number of” studies of the K100 appearing like this however affirmed that “there’s no {hardware} perform on the keyboard that operates as a key logger.” The firm did not instantly reply to follow-up questions on what number of keyboards have been affected.
“Corsair keyboards unequivocally don’t log person enter in any method and don’t have the power to log particular person keystrokes,” Corsair’s rep advised Ars Technica.
They additionally insisted that the problem is not widespread, with only a “small quantity” of complaints from “tens of 1000’s” of K100 gross sales.
The firm is investigating what’s inflicting the problem however believes it could possibly be associated to the keyboard’s capability to file macros. Some, however not all customers, noticed the problem resolved with a latest firmware replace Corsair issued, in line with Corsair and one individual on Corsair’s discussion board (though they claimed to have completely different points after performing the replace).
“The macro perform could possibly be inadvertently switching on and recording keyboard, and doubtlessly mouse, inputs. These macros are then being triggered and reproducing inputs at a later time and misinterpreted as keylogging. We’re nonetheless investigating the exact nature of the problem with our clients.,” Corsair’s spokesperson mentioned.
One person on Corsair’s discussion board mentioned that when their K100 inadvertently entered textual content they typed days in the past, the enter included the identical backspaces and pauses they recalled making when initially typing the content material, which feels like a macro perform. Corsair’s K100 permits macro recording with or with out its proprietary software program.
This additionally is not a novel downside. We discovered years-old discussions on Reddit that reported comparable habits with Logitech keyboards, and a few concluded that unintended macro recording was the offender.
Still, we do not blame customers for being cautious. After all, everyone knows how inconspicuous keylogging tech will be. We’ve seen keyloggers covertly lurking in every part from laptop computer touchpad and audio drivers to company laptops and networks and pc equipment, like keyboards and cables.
Even if there isn’t a malicious exercise, any erratic habits from a peripheral as superior and costly the K100 is irritating. Corsair is without doubt one of the most well-known gaming peripheral manufacturers, and the K100 is considered one of its costliest keyboards. With a $200 MSRP, the K100 has a few of the flashiest options, together with the debut of Corsair’s Axon system-on-chip enabling an 8,000 Hz polling price, optical mechanical switches, a financial institution of macro keys, and a programmable dial. We have not seen any studies of comparable points with the Corsair K100 Air or different keyboards from the model.
Any affected clients ought to contact Corsair’s assist group, Corsair’s rep mentioned. They additionally mentioned that affected customers may reset the K100 by unplugging the keyboard after which holding down Esc for 5 seconds whereas plugging it in.
In response to anybody nonetheless caring concerning the Corsair keyboard’s safety, the corporate’s spokesperson mentioned: “Corsair takes buyer knowledge privateness very severely, and even when a single person is impacted, we’ll shortly work to resolve the problem.” We requested Corsair it will supply refunds for the K100 and can replace this piece if we hear again.
Corsair’s K100 got here out in October 2020 and has a two-year guarantee.