Blog

Feb 13, 2024

DISCLAIMER

This is for educational purposes only. It is very unlikely to work anymore if your admin is even slightly competent. If you try this anyway, I will not offer help if it doesn't work or breaks your network connection. I did not make these directions, only edited them for clarity, and they are not updated anymore.

Tutorial

There are two main paths you can go down here. One is useful if the network is managed and forced onto your Chromebook (like school WiFi), and the other, easier one is for personal, unmanaged networks (like your home WiFi). The best way to tell a managed network from unmanaged is to check if the network has a "building" icon next to it. If it does, it's managed. If you've used caub before (it's okay if you don't know what that is), your managed network might show as unmanaged. You should be able to follow the steps for personal networks. But when in doubt, or if you're blocked from changing DNS settings, go with the managed route.

For managed networks

Before you start, you need to get some information about your network. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Go to chrome://network#state

  2. Scroll to Favorite Networks and find the managed network

  3. Click it to expand, and copy all the text that appears between the {brackets}

  4. Go to the DNS editor

    • Disable enable metered (update blocker)
    • Enable edit dns
    • Type 167.86.91.171 into the first box, set the rest to 0.0.0.0
    • In the small text box near the bottom, paste the block of text you copied earlier.
    • Click generate and download file

  5. Go to chrome://network

  6. Scroll to the bottom and click Choose File

  7. Choose the file that was downloaded earlier

  8. Restart your Chromebook

For unmanaged networks

You're lucky! These steps will be much easier for you because you won't be blocked from managing DNS settings.

  1. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > [your network name]
  2. Expand the Network section
  3. Scroll to Name servers
  4. Click on Custom name servers (if it's not already selected)
  5. Type 167.86.91.171 into the first box, set the rest to 0.0.0.0
  6. Restart your Chromebook

After you follow these steps, web filters and Hapara should be broken as promised! Some sites may still be blocked by Chrome's URL blacklist or a filter built into school WiFi, but for the most part, it's like having Insecurly back again. Go enjoy the unblocked internet!

Oh, and there's one last thing that you need to know, so please read this section too! The DNS server we're using might not last forever. It could be blocked by school administrators, your router at home, or the owners might just run out of money to keep it running. In that case, you may be cut off entirely from the internet, as your computer won't be able to reach the server to resolve domain names. If you suddenly can't reach any websites or experience any other problems, and you've tried other troubleshooting steps like restarting your computer, you can fix the problem by following the steps for unmanaged networks, up to the point where you click Custom name servers. Instead of that, click Automatic name servers, restart your Chromebook, and you should be able to reach the internet again. To get the exploit working again, just follow the steps for unmanaged networks. If your network was managed before, it won't appear that way after following this exploit, and you'll be able to activate and deactivate the exploit at will. For real this time, that's all you need to know.