Undocumented "backdoor" found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devices

gregmcc

gregmcc

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www.bleepingcomputer.com

Undocumented "backdoor" found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devices

The ubiquitous ESP32 microchip made by Chinese manufacturer Espressif and used by over 1 billion units as of 2023 contains an undocumented "backdoor" that could be leveraged for attacks.
www.bleepingcomputer.com www.bleepingcomputer.com

The ubiquitous ESP32 microchip made by Chinese manufacturer Espressif and used by over 1 billion units as of 2023 contains an undocumented "backdoor" that could be leveraged for attacks.

The undocumented commands allow spoofing of trusted devices, unauthorized data access, pivoting to other devices on the network, and potentially establishing long-term persistence.

This was discovered by Spanish researchers Miguel Tarascó Acuña and Antonio Vázquez Blanco of Tarlogic Security, who presented their findings yesterday at RootedCON in Madrid.

"Tarlogic Security has detected a backdoor in the ESP32, a microcontroller that enables WiFi and Bluetooth connection and is present in millions of mass-market IoT devices," reads a Tarlogic announcement shared with BleepingComputer.

"Exploitation of this backdoor would allow hostile actors to conduct impersonation attacks and permanently infect sensitive devices such as mobile phones, computers, smart locks or medical equipment by bypassing code audit controls."
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Jet-Fighter7700 said:
how many other backdoors and zero days are out there made by the Chinese?

and people willingly download tik tok and happily buy Chinese phones not knowing what they share.
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Chinese are experts in spying. They have so much personal info of billions of people by now.

I'm not sure why they do it though. Could be an inferiority complex.
 
Oh no what a disaster LOL. Everyone's info is all over the world long ago so who cares
 
I am curious that it has only been discovered now, since it is pretty open. It is used in IoT devices, so... eh. Though the compromise seems that you still need direct access to the device. Essentially, your home/business network would have to be hacked, and then the device, when connected, is open to exploitation.

Unless the device is shipped with malicious instructions.

So, no, no reason to panick, but the exploit should be patched.
 
People, everything can have a backdoor, even devices that people don't want you to repair or mod have undocumented backdoors. I highly doubt that devices that allow 'security' access would have a documented backdoor; otherwise, it would be exploited. Some backdoors are unintentional.

Zero-day is a real thing.

I monitor every device in my ecosystem, and I know what is being communicated by devices made in the USA, Europe, China and Taiwan. Nothing spooky at this time.
 
Overall, it is good that these exploits are publicly reported so that people can make better-informed buying decisions. Sadly, not too many people research what they buy.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
So, no, no reason to panick, but the exploit should be patched.
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that wont happen many of these devices are never to get an update, buried so deep inside something else IOT, that nobody ever saw the need to include a way to update the firmware.

the Israelis put many of these vulnerabilities to extreamly good use with Pegasus for instance.
 
This is why custom firmware like Tasmota exist.
Its almost a given that Chinese firmware has some backdoors.
 
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Smiggles said:
Android users. Apple is moving to their own wifi and bluetooth chip.
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Every time I think you can't post something more idiotic than your previous post you go and surprise me.

Please show me ONE android phone that uses a ESP32 controller or even the BT chip that is on the ESP32 controller.
 
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