3 ms·

Maybe I'm living in the past and haven't been informed, but is Bluetooth still unsecure?

• MohammadLee 10y ago
  Yes, it still is especially since 4.0, and this new update does not seem to do anything to improve it. BT sux.
  • drewbug 10y ago
    Care to elaborate?
• programmarchy 10y ago
  Bluetooth 4.0 and 4.1 had a broken key exchange that was vulnerable to both passive and active attacks [1]. This could be remedied by a custom in-band or out-of-band key exchange, but I think it was rare for device manufacturers to go to those lengths. The key exchange vulnerability was addressed in Bluetooth 4.2, which implements ECDH and is at least theoretically secure. [2] [1] https://www.usenix.org/conference/woot13/workshop-program/presentation/ryan https://www.usenix.org/conference/woot13/workshop-program/pr... [2] http://blog.bluetooth.com/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-bluetooth-security-in-bluetooth-4-2/ http://blog.bluetooth.com/everything-you-always-wanted-to-kn...
  • IshKebab 10y ago
    Except... that pairing in Bluetooth 4.2 is still broken. And they apparently even used an algorithm from Bluetooth 2 that was known to be broken. https://pomcor.com/2015/06/03/has-bluetooth-become-secure/ https://pomcor.com/2015/06/03/has-bluetooth-become-secure/ Basically Passkey Entry is broken so eavesdroppers can trivially learn the PIN. You must use a dynamic PIN (not always possible). Oh and if you're thinking you can implement your own pairing method that is actually secure, via the Out-of-Band method, think again! Neither Android nor iOS support it.
    • gman99 10y ago
      >Neither Android nor iOS support [pairing ... via the Out-of-Band method]. I'm not sure this is actually true (unless you're talking about bugs with individual manufacturers implementation on Android?). Both iOS and Android support SSP with OOB key exchange via NFC. There are lots of products that have been available that use this for pairing/connecting, eg: https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-device-with-nfc-soundlink-ae-headphones-ii.html https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/pairing-a-device-...
      • IshKebab 10y ago
        Android supports OOB via NFC, but only as a special case. You should just be able to call `createBondOutOfBand()` but the method is hidden: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base.git/+/master/core/java/android/bluetooth/BluetoothDevice.java#888 https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base.gi... I'm pretty sure iOS doesn't support pairing via NFC. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nfc-speakers-from-apple-you-cant-use-iphone-6-pair-jamie-conyngham https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nfc-speakers-from-apple-you-c... http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/iphone-6-nfc-radio-limited-functionality/d/d-id/1315778 http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/iphone... So, no, they don't support OOB (except in one limited case on Android).
• digi_owl 10y ago
  If the attacker has a ubertooth, and is present when the key exchange happens.