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I would be just as concerned if it was unlocked and unrooted. Nothing stopping a malicious party from rerooting the device after they install their rootkit.

In my experience you can only relock the device if you have flashed a manufacturer-signed system image. (That might not be the case for every phone)

My first thought as well. Maybe rootkits, maybe cruft, maybe spyware. On the bright side if you can find a mfgr system image, you can probably reflash it and be safe.

How is a chance of having a rootkit worse than definitely having a rootkit?