Corsair says bug, not keylogger, behind some K100 keyboards’ creepy habits

Keylogger-like habits has some Corsair K100 keyboard prospects involved. A number of customers have reported their peripheral randomly getting into textual content into their laptop that they beforehand typed days or even weeks in the past. Nevertheless, Corsair advised Ars Technica that the habits is a bug, not keylogging, and it is probably associated to the keyboard’s macro recording function.

A reader tipped us off to an ongoing thread on Corsair’s help discussion board {that a} consumer began in August. The consumer claimed that their K100 began typing by itself whereas they use it with a MacBook Professional, gaming laptop, and KVM swap.

“Each 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 consumer, “brendenguy,” wrote.

Ten customers seemingly responded to the thread (we won’t confirm the validity of every declare or account, however Corsair confirmed it is a recognized subject), reporting comparable experiences.

One mentioned their keyboard began getting into a “particular line from a really delicate e mail” whereas interacting with client information with their PC in Protected Mode. One consumer famous that they do not use Corsair’s iCue software program for programming peripherals however had an analogous expertise. One other 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 Suggestions discussion board with folks claiming the identical downside. Some prospects mentioned they feared they have been hacked on the time, whereas a number of accused Corsair of stealthy keylogging.

Corsair confirmed to Ars that it is acquired “a number of” reviews of the K100 performing like this however affirmed that “there’s no {hardware} perform on the keyboard that operates as a key logger.” The corporate did not instantly reply to follow-up questions on what number of keyboards have been affected.

“Corsair keyboards unequivocally don’t log consumer enter in any manner and do not need the flexibility to log particular person keystrokes,” Corsair’s rep advised Ars Technica.

In addition they insisted that the problem is not widespread, with only a “small quantity” of complaints from “tens of 1000’s” of K100 gross sales.

The corporate is investigating what’s inflicting the problem however believes it might be associated to the keyboard’s means to report macros. Some, however not all customers, noticed the problem resolved with a latest firmware replace Corsair issued, based on Corsair and one individual on Corsair’s discussion board (though they claimed to have completely different points after performing the replace).

 “The macro perform might be inadvertently switching on and recording keyboard, and probably 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 prospects.,” Corsair’s spokesperson mentioned. 

One consumer 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 singular 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 perpetrator.

Nonetheless, we do not blame customers for being cautious. In any case, everyone knows how inconspicuous keylogging tech might be. We have seen keyloggers covertly lurking in the whole lot from laptop computer touchpad and audio drivers to company laptops and networks and laptop equipment, like keyboards and cables.

Even when there isn’t a malicious exercise, any erratic habits from a peripheral as superior and costly the K100 is irritating. Corsair is likely one of the most well-known gaming peripheral manufacturers, and the K100 is one in all its most costly 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 charge, optical mechanical switches, a financial institution of macro keys, and a programmable dial. We’ve not seen any reviews of comparable points with the Corsair K100 Air or different keyboards from the model.

Any affected prospects ought to contact Corsair’s help group, Corsair’s rep mentioned. In addition they mentioned that affected customers might 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 information privateness very significantly, and even when a single consumer 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.