plex-premium-mock-proxy/README.md

# Plex Premium Hack

This repository contains a "mock" proxy that sits in your network and tricks Plex into thinking you have a Plex Premium
subscription.

### Requirements

- A router that **can redirect traffic** (i.e. OPNsense, pfSense, DD-WRT...)
- _(alternative) a DNS server that can redirect traffic (some apps won't work due to DNS pinning)_
- A reverse proxy (i.e. Traefik, Nginx, Caddy...)
- A Plex server (self-hosted)

### What works?

- Plexamp mobile (download mode)
- Plexamp Headless

## How to setup ?

Due to the nature of this hack, you'll have to :

- generate a new certificate authority (CA) for the proxy
- trust or patch the CA on clients and/or apps that will connect to your Plex server

### 1. Generate a new Certificate Authority (CA) and proxy certificate

```bash
# Generate a root CA
openssl genrsa -out plexhackCA.key 4096
# Create a self-signed root CA certificate
openssl req -x509 -new -nodes -key plexhackCA.key -sha256 -days 3650 -out plexhackCA.pem -subj "/C=US/ST=SomeState/L=SomeCity/O=PlexHack/OU=PlexHack/CN=PlexHackCA"
  
# Generate private key for proxy
openssl genrsa -out plexhackproxy.key 2048
  
# Create a config file for the proxy certificate (SANs)
cat > plexhacksan.cnf <<EOL
[req]
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
req_extensions     = v3_req
prompt             = no

[req_distinguished_name]
C  = US
ST = SomeState
L = SomeCity
O = PlexHack
OU = PlexHack
CN = plex.tv

[v3_req]
subjectAltName = @alt_names

[alt_names]
DNS.1 = plex.tv
DNS.2 = *.plex.tv
DNS.3 = *.provider.plex.tv

EOL

# Create a certificate signing request (CSR) using the SAN config
openssl req -new -key plexhackproxy.key -out plexhackproxy.csr -config plexhacksan.cnf

# Sign the CSR with your root CA to create the proxy certificate
openssl x509 -req -in plexhackproxy.csr -CA plexhackCA.pem -CAkey plexhackCA.key -CAcreateserial -out plexhackproxy.crt -days 365 -sha256 -extfile plexhacksan.cnf -extensions v3_req
```

Now you should have two files `plexhackproxy.crt` and `plexhackproxy.key` that you will use in your reverse proxy.
You should also have the `plexhackCA.crt` file that you will need to trust on your clients.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> You will need to trust the `plexhackCA.crt` certificate on every device that
> will connect to your Plex server (i.e. mobile, desktop, smart TV...).
> How to do this depends on the device and OS, you will need to search for instructions
> specific to your device.

### 2. Setup reverse proxy

In my case I'm using Traefik, so here is an example configuration :

```yaml
tls:
  certificates:
    # use certificates generated in step 1
    - certFile: /etc/traefik/ssl/custom/plexhackproxy.crt
      keyFile: /etc/traefik/ssl/custom/plexhackproxy.key

http:
  routers:
    plex:
      entryPoints:
        - https
      service: plex
      rule: Host(`plex.<your-domain>.com`)
      # you may want to use TLS here too (don't use the custom CA cert generated in step 1)
    plex_proxy:
      entryPoints:
        - https
      service: plex_proxy
      rule: HostRegexp(`^.+\.plex\.tv$`) || Host(`plex.tv`)
      tls: { }

  services:
    plex:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
          - url: http://<plex-machine-ip>:32400
    plex_proxy:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
          - url: http://<machine-where-proxy-is>:8000
```

### 3. Redirect traffic

For this to work we need to redirect the domain `clients.plex.tv` and `plex.tv` to our proxy.
This is easily done if you own a router that can do this but might be tricky if you don't.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Mobile/desktop apps tends to use hardcoded DNS servers so if you don't have a router that can redirect traffic, you
> will not be able to use this hack.
> It might be possible to patch the app to use a custom DNS server but the apps are usually obfuscated and it's not easy
> to do so.

#### OPNsense / pfSense

First, find the IP address behind the plex domains.

```bash
dig clients.plex.tv +short
# 172.64.151.205
# 104.18.36.51

dig plex.tv +short
# 52.17.59.150
# 52.49.56.127

dig features.plex.tv +short
# global-latency.plex.bz. -> we can ignore this one it points to the 3 IPs below
# 34.246.123.195
# 52.210.35.163
# 54.216.30.15
```

Then go into `Firewall` > `Aliases` and create two aliases:

- `plex_ips`
    - Type: Host(s)
    - Content: <the IPs you found above>
- `plex_do_not_proxy`
    - Type: Host(s)
    - Content: <your plex server IP> and <your proxy server IP>

Then go into `Firewall` > `NAT` > `Port Forward` and create a new rule:

- Interface: `LAN`
- Protocol: `TCP`
- Source / Invert: [☑️]
- Source: *(select alias)* `plex_do_not_proxy`
- Source Port Range: `any`
- Destination: *(select alias)* `plex_ips`
- Destination Port Range: `443`
- Redirect Target IP: `<your proxy server IP>`
- Redirect Target Port: `443`

Finally go to `Firewall` > `NAT` > `Outbound` and create a new rule *(select Hybrid mode if needed)*:

- Interface: `LAN`
- TCP/IP Version: `IPv4`
- Protocol: `any`
- Source address: `any`
- Destination address: <your proxy server IP>
- Destination port : `443`
- Translation / target: `Interface address`

##### Test the redirection

Now if you try to go to `https://clients.plex.tv/proxy` you should see a JSON response along the lines of :

```json
{
  "status": "OK, Plex Pass features proxy enabled"
}
```

If you see the Plex "Oops, 404" page then something is wrong with your redirection or proxy.

## Patch Plexamp

> [!IMPORTANT]
> You'll need to have the official PlexAmp app installed on your device for this to work.

You can use ADB to extract the APK from your device:

```bash
# Execute this from the root of the cloned repo
# Also make sure you have adb installed and your device connected
mkdir extracted_apks && cd extracted_apks
for apk in $(adb shell pm path tv.plex.labs.plexamp | sed 's/package://'); do
    adb pull "$apk" .
done
```

> [!NOTE]
> You might be able to download the APK from some websites but it's safer to extract it from your own device.

You'll end up with something like this in the `extracted_apks` folder:

```
.
├── base.apk
├── split_config.arm64_v8a.apk
├── split_config.de.apk
├── split_config.fr.apk
├── split_config.it.apk
└── split_config.xxxhdpi.apk
```

Then you need to patch the `cacert.pem` file inside the `base.apk` to add the `plexhackCA.crt` certificate generated in
step 1 and re-sign all the APKs.  
_This might sound harder than it is, just follow these steps_:

```bash
# 1. Extract the existing cacert.pem from base.apk
unzip base.apk assets/cacert.pem -d ./

# 2. Append your custom CA cert
echo -e "\nPlexHack" >> assets/cacert.pem
echo -e "==================================" >> assets/cacert.pem
cat ../certs/plexhackCA.pem >> assets/cacert.pem

# 3. Remove old cacert.pem and add the new one (with no compression)
zip -d base.apk assets/cacert.pem
zip -X0 base.apk assets/cacert.pem

# 4. Remove existing signatures from ALL APKs (base + splits)
for f in base.apk split_config.*.apk; do
    zip -d "$f" 'META-INF/*'
done

# 5. Generate a keystore if you don’t already have one
mkdir -p ../keystores
# This will prompt you for some info, you can put whatever you want here and enter "yes" at the end
# WARNING: Take note of the password you enter here as you'll need it to sign the APKs
keytool -genkey -v -keystore ../keystores/plexamphack.keystore -alias plexamphack -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

# 6. Sign ALL APKs with the same key
for f in base.apk split_config.*.apk; do
    apksigner sign --ks ../keystores/plexamphack.keystore "$f"
done
```

You can now install the modified APK on your Android device.

```bash
# Make sure to uninstall the official PlexAmp app first
adb install-multiple base.apk split_config.*.apk
```

## Patch Plexamp Headless

```bash
# Execute this from the root of the cloned repo
mkdir plexamp_headless && cd plexamp_headless

# Download and extract Plexamp Headless
wget --no-check-certificate https://plexamp.plex.tv/headless/Plexamp-Linux-headless-v4.12.4.tar.bz2 -O plexamp-headless.tar.bz2
tar -xvf plexamp-headless.tar.bz2 && rm plexamp-headless.tar.bz2
mv plexamp/* ./ && rmdir plexamp

# Add the custom CA cert to the cacert.pem file
echo -e "\nPlexHack" >> cacert.pem
echo -e "==================================" >> cacert.pem
cat ../certs/plexhackCA.pem >> cacert.pem # you might have to adjust the path here if on a different machine

# Now you can run Plexamp Headless with the custom CA cert
node js/index.js

# (optional) You can also setup the systemd service included
mv plexamp.service /etc/systemd/system/
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now plexamp # to start at boot and start now
```

### Configure Plexamp Headless

Once started I recommend using these settings for optimal experience:

```bash
# Do not mixdown to stereo (val: true/false)
echo "Bfalse" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AaudioMixdownToStereo

# Set cache size to 512MB (val: 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072)
echo "N512" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AcacheSize

# Set how many songs to precache on WiFi (val: 0/5/10/15/20/25/40)
echo "N0" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AcachingWiFi

# Set player name (Marantz here)
echo "SMarantz" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AplayerName

# Set precache network speed to 10Mbps (val: 0/1/5/10/50/100)
echo "N10" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AprecacheNetworkSpeed

# Set sample rate conversion quality to highest (64 point sinc) (val: 0-4)
echo "N4" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AsampleRateConversionQuality

# Set sample rate matching to "Strict" (val: 0-2)
echo "N2" > ${HOME}/.local/share/Plexamp/Settings/%40Plexamp%3Asettings%3AsampleRateMatching
```

_I don't recommend accessing the Plexamp Headless webUI as it might cause issues with the hack (not tested though)._

#### Setup output device

I had to manually overwrite the default connection as I wanted to output to a S/PDIF device, check your devices with
`aplay -l` :

```
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALCS1200A Analog [ALCS1200A Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
```

Create the file ``/etc/asound.conf`` and modify it to match your device, this worked for me:

```
pcm.!default {
    type plug
    slave {
        pcm "iec958:CARD=PCH,DEV=0"
    }
}

ctl.!default {
    type hw
    card PCH
}
```