[German]Users of a mechanical Corsair K100 keyboard complain that it "types" words or sentences by itself. However, the fears of some users that a keylogger or a malware is causing that behavior are not true. According to the manufacturer, it is simply a firmware bug that will eventually replay texts typed by the user and find it's was into the keyboard's macro recorder.
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I came across this incredible case via a tweet from German site Golem, which was first picked up by Ars Technica in this article. A reader had alerted Ars Technica to an ongoing thread on Corsair's support forum that a user started in August 2022.
A user with a Corsair K100 keyboard connected to a KVM switch complains that it is suddenly taking on a life of its own and auto typing.
I have a K100 keyboard which I have plugged into a KVM switch and shared between two computers (one gaming PC, and one work MacBook Pro laptop). Every couple of days, the keyboard has started randomly typing on its own while I am working on the MacBook. It usually seems to type messages that I previously typed on the gaming PC and it won't stop until I unplug the keyboard and plug it back in. Obviously I find this behavior rather alarming as I don't like the idea of the keyboard storing and replaying my keypresses, which it does appear to be doing.
The user suspected a kind of keylogger in his keyboard that records everything he types. And then at some point, these recordings are played back so that the K100 automatically sends texts. The user asks:
Is there a resolution to this issue? I saw other similar issues reported here, but none specifically with the K100. I really love the keyboard other than this problem, but am tempted to return it if it cannot be resolved.
Another user suggests resetting the keyboard with a special key combination to stop the behavior. However, this only worked temporarily and suddenly more users came forward to confirm the keyboard's behavior.
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One user got the shock of his life, as the keyboard suddenly played back a sensitive text from a two-day-old email. The user thought he had been hacked and was in the process of organizing a large event as a plant manager and was processing customer data. As a measure, he "cleaned" his work computer and all memory cards as well as his online accounts to get rid of the supposed hack.
Meanwhile, the thread in question collected a lot of user posts that were also affected by this bug. Someone even posted a video here. On Linus Tech Tips, too, a user reported that he suspected a keylogger or macro recorder. And here someone blames it on Windows 11. In response to an inquiry from Ars Technica, Corsair confirmed to have received several user reports about this error pattern. However, Corsair denies that there is a "hardware function on the keyboard that acts as a key logger".
Quote from a Corsair representative to Ars Technica: "Corsair keyboards do not log user input in any way and are not capable of logging individual keystrokes." According to the manufacturer, only a small number of keyboards are said to be affected. Currently, the company is investigating the problem.
The manufacturer suppose, that the keyboard's macro recorder capability is unintentionally activated by the firmware and then suddenly unwinds these recordings. A spokesperson told Ars Technica:
The macro function could inadvertently activate and record keyboard and possibly mouse inputs. These macros are then triggered and reproduce the inputs at a later time and are misinterpreted as keylogging. We are still investigating the exact nature of the issue with our customers.
Corsair has released a firmware update for the keyboard, but it does not fix the problem for all users. In any case, this is not a pretty outlook when the keyboard takes on a life of its own and suddenly starts "typing" unintentionally.
