Logitech Shows Harmony Hub Users Option To Enable Xmpp

Logitech says it will give users of the Harmony Hub the option to enable xmpp again. Allows users to access the smart home device through the local network. This option was removed in December with an earlier firmware version.

Logitech reports that it has decided to support the ability to access xmpp starting with firmware version 4.15.250 and version 5.6 of the Harmony app for iOS and Android. The option to enable xmpp can be found in the mobile app settings. Logitech says it will release this new firmware from Friday. Xmpp remains disabled by default; users have to turn it on manually. This is a conscious choice by Logitech; the company reiterates that enabling the xmpp connection could lead to an unsecured local access point that is “vulnerable to being hacked.”

The manufacturer largely reverts to an earlier decision from December. Then firmware version 4.15.206 ensured that it was no longer possible to control the hub via an API via a local network. Logitech then decided, based on complaints, to release the optional firmware version 4.15.210, which could restore local access. Logitech now describes the update process of this optional firmware as “annoying” and now makes the functionality from that version part of the official firmware updates.

In December, Logitech warned that using version 4.15.210 was at your own risk, as a previous security patch was missing from the protocol. By this, the manufacturer was referring to firmware 4.15.206, with which Logitech wanted to solve several vulnerabilities, but at the same time it made access to the local api of the hub via xmpp impossible.