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DJI Patches Flaw After Researcher Accidentally Accesses About 7,000 Romo Robot Vacuums Worldwide

The exposure traced to a server-side permission error letting one device token pull data from many units.

Overview

  • Software engineer Sammy Azdoufal said a PS5 controller project and an AI coding assistant led him to enumerate roughly 6,700–7,000 DJI Romo vacuums across about 24 countries.
  • Accessible data reportedly included live video, microphone audio, detailed floor plans, serial numbers, IP addresses, and status information, effectively revealing activity inside homes.
  • DJI acknowledged a backend MQTT permission validation issue, said it began remediation in late January, and deployed two updates in early February that it says resolved the primary flaw.
  • The researcher claims additional weaknesses persist, including a possible PIN bypass and concerns about server-side data handling; DJI says it is strengthening PIN verification and reviewing the other claims.
  • There is no public evidence of widespread malicious exploitation, but the case spotlights systemic smart‑home privacy risks tied to cloud‑managed devices and how AI tools can speed protocol analysis.