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Cybersecurity

Someone Hacked Thousands of DJI Robot Vacuums for Fun—and It Was Embarrassingly Easy [Update: Fixed]

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Update: DJI says the ROMO vulnerability has been remediated and that its investigation found no evidence of user-data misuse. Owners should still update the DJI Home app and ROMO firmware.

A researcher trying to control his own DJI ROMO robot vacuum with a PlayStation controller reportedly gained unauthorized visibility into roughly 6,700 other ROMO devices across 24 countries. The exposure included device telemetry and, under some circumstances, access to sensitive robot functions. This was not reported as a breach of DJI’s corporate network; it was a failure in the way the ROMO ecosystem authenticated and validated cloud requests.

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What happened to DJI ROMO?

Security researcher and software engineer Sammy Azdoufal was reportedly working on a way to drive his own DJI ROMO with a PS5 controller. To do that, he analyzed communications between the vacuum, the DJI Home app, and DJI’s backend services.

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During that work, a token or credential obtained from his own device allowed his tools to query or interact with a much broader fleet than intended. According to reporting, he identified approximately 6,700 ROMO devices in 24 countries and observed more than 100,000 device messages during testing.

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The discovery exposed weaknesses in device identity, authorization boundaries, and backend validation. Azdoufal reportedly did not set out to access other customers’ vacuums or deliberately misuse their data. But the fact that ordinary credentials from one consumer device could provide visibility into other devices made this a serious unauthorized-access vulnerability.

Android Authority reported that the original project began as an attempt to add PlayStation-controller support. TechRadar’s account described the issue as involving the ROMO communications path rather than a conventional intrusion into DJI’s internal corporate systems.

How many vacuums were exposed?

The best-supported reported figure is approximately 6,700 devices across 24 countries. That is the number the researcher said his tooling could identify during testing—not necessarily the total number of ROMO owners who were exposed.

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Some headlines and online discussions use figures such as 7,000 or more than 10,000. Those numbers should not be treated as confirmed equivalents. Tom’s Hardware reported the approximately 6,700-device count.

What information could be seen?

Reports described access to or visibility into several categories of ROMO data:

  • Device serial numbers and identifiers
  • Battery level and cleaning status
  • Current tasks and rooms being cleaned
  • Approximate location or regional information
  • Floor plans, maps, and room information
  • Obstacles, travel distance, and other telemetry
  • Potentially, control functions

Camera-equipped ROMO models make the consequences more serious. Reporting described live-camera access during testing and said the researcher was able to bypass the expected security PIN on his own unit. That demonstrates the potential impact, but it does not establish that every affected customer’s camera was viewed or that every ROMO model had identical exposure.

It is important to distinguish between different levels of access:

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Capability What the available evidence supports
Device identification Reportedly observed across thousands of units
Status and battery data Reportedly visible through device messages
Location, rooms, and maps Reported as accessible or exposed; the exact scope varied by device and data type
Live video Demonstrated on the researcher’s own unit; not proven for every device
Remote commands Reported as possible, but not equivalent to unrestricted persistent control of every vacuum
Customer-data misuse DJI says its investigation found no evidence of misuse

Was DJI hacked?

Not in the usual sense. Available reporting says the researcher did not brute-force passwords, steal customer credentials, or break into DJI’s corporate network. He used his own ROMO and analyzed the credentials and communications available to that device.

The reported problem was instead a backend authentication and authorization failure: the service did not reliably enforce the boundary between the researcher’s device and other customers’ devices. Calling this a security vulnerability is accurate even if the researcher’s characterization was that he had not “hacked” DJI in the conventional sense.

Was anyone harmed?

No confirmed criminal campaign or confirmed misuse of customer data has been established by the available evidence. DJI says its investigation found that the observed activity was primarily connected to security researchers’ testing and found no evidence that user data was misused.

That statement should not be confused with proof that no unauthorized access occurred. The distinction is:

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  • Exposure: Data and device functions were reportedly reachable outside their intended authorization boundary.
  • Access: The researcher says he observed and tested the issue.
  • Misuse: DJI says it found no evidence that customer data was misused.
  • Confirmed criminal exploitation: Not established by the available sources.

DJI’s current position is set out in its security response concerning ROMO.

DJI says the vulnerability is fixed

DJI says it identified a backend validation issue in late January, received reports from two independent researchers through its bug-bounty program, deployed updates, and completed remediation. The company says no user action is required and that it found no evidence of user-data misuse.

The company’s statement is the basis for the remediation claim. ROMO’s April 13, 2026 release notes also list security-related changes, including new security-passcode and related protection settings. Those notes support the existence of security improvements, but the release notes alone do not prove the precise technical fix for the reported backend flaw.

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The relevant release notes identify:

  • ROMO firmware: V01.00.15.00
  • DJI Home app: V1.5.16 for iOS and Android
  • Release date: April 13, 2026

What ROMO owners should do now

DJI says no action is required because the server-side remediation has been deployed. Updating remains sensible, especially because the later app and firmware release notes include security protections.

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  1. Update DJI Home through the official Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
  2. Open the ROMO in DJI Home and go to Device Settings → Firmware Update.
  3. Install the latest firmware offered for your specific ROMO model. The April 2026 notes identify V01.00.15.00 as a relevant version.
  4. Enable automatic updates if that option is available. The ROMO manual documents the update path and automatic-update setting.
  5. Review and reset security-passcode or device-access settings introduced by the update.
  6. Change your DJI account password if you reused it on another service.
  7. Revoke unfamiliar sessions or connected accounts if DJI Home provides those controls.

Do not factory-reset the vacuum as a universal remedy. A reset can erase maps, schedules, and preferences without addressing a server-side vulnerability. If the update fails, keep the robot on its charging base, ensure the app and vacuum have network access, retry through DJI Home, and contact DJI Support. Avoid unofficial firmware packages or reverse-engineered tools.

What “fixed” does—and does not—mean

“Fixed” means DJI reports that this specific remediation is complete. It does not prove that ROMO has no other vulnerabilities or that the product is permanently secure.

DJI says it plans independent third-party security audits and additional certifications for ROMO and DJI Home. The company also lists ROMO credentials including ETSI EN 303 645, EU RED/EN 18031, and UL Solutions Diamond IoT security certifications. Those are useful indicators of security work, but no certification guarantees immunity from future or previously undiscovered flaws. Security is an ongoing requirement for any cloud-connected device.

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Why robot vacuums are privacy-sensitive

A connected robot vacuum can be much more than a cleaning appliance. Depending on the model, it may have a detailed map of the home, room names, cleaning schedules, cameras, microphones or voice-control integration, Wi-Fi and cloud-account associations, and remote-control features.

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Even without a camera, a map can reveal bedrooms, entrances, hallways, and the layout of a workplace. Cleaning schedules and telemetry may also reveal routines or whether a property is occupied. A camera-equipped model adds visual information to that profile.

That is why the relevant security question is not simply whether someone could start the vacuum remotely. The more important questions are whether cloud services enforce per-device authorization, whether credentials are bound to individual hardware, what data leaves the home, and how quickly the manufacturer can respond when a flaw is found.

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What buyers should check

Before buying any connected robot vacuum, check the specific model—not just the brand—for:

  • Camera and microphone hardware
  • Whether maps are stored locally, in the cloud, or both
  • Whether remote access is mandatory
  • Automatic security updates and published release notes
  • A vulnerability-disclosure or bug-bounty program
  • Per-device credentials and cloud authorization controls
  • Whether core cleaning works without cloud access
  • Regional availability, support, and update policies

DJI ROMO is a particularly poor fit for buyers who require fully offline operation or who are uncomfortable with a camera-equipped device in the home. Alternatives such as iRobot, Roborock, eufy, and Dreame must still be evaluated model by model; a different brand is not automatically a privacy solution.

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Technically experienced owners may investigate Valetudo, which can remove cloud dependence from some compatible robot vacuums. Compatibility and installation risks vary, and it should not be attempted without confirming the exact model and accepting possible warranty or support consequences.

Does network isolation help?

Putting the vacuum on a separate guest or IoT network is a sensible defensive measure. It can limit access to other devices on the home network if the vacuum is compromised.

It cannot solve a server-side authorization flaw. The vacuum still needs to communicate with the vendor’s cloud service, so a cloud service that accepts an unauthorized command may still be able to reach it. Network isolation reduces local-network risk; it does not replace vendor-side security.

What remains unknown

  • The exact total number of affected devices
  • Whether every ROMO model had identical exposure
  • Whether any non-researcher accessed customer data
  • The precise technical root cause, unless DJI or the researcher publishes more detail
  • Whether the remediation has received independent public validation

Those limits matter because dramatic headlines can blur the difference between device enumeration, telemetry access, map access, camera viewing, issuing commands, and persistent control.

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The responsible-disclosure lesson

Researchers should not reproduce serial-number enumeration methods, API endpoints, tokens, MQTT topics, exploit code, or commands that could probe other customers’ devices. DJI’s vulnerability-reporting guidance says researchers should test only authorized assets, stop after verifying a vulnerability, avoid accessing or exfiltrating genuine user data, and keep details confidential until remediation and authorized disclosure.

The ROMO incident is a reminder that an attack does not need sophisticated malware or a corporate-network breach to become serious. A cloud-connected home device can expose sensitive information when its authentication and authorization boundaries are poorly implemented.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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