Contact-tracing interference via predictable Bluetooth identifiers
Published Apr 27, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024
Insufficiently random identifiers in Bluezone 1.0.0 allow remote attackers to disrupt COVID-19 contact tracing via Bluetooth broadcasts. BluezonerIdGenerator seeds Math.seedrandom with the current timestamp, then selects six characters from a 36-character alphabet, making the identifier space predictable. An attacker must be within Bluetooth range or distribute broadcasts through nearby transmitters; the vendor disputes practical impact because contact-history comparison exposes false alerts.
Summary
What happened
Insufficiently random identifiers in Bluezone 1.0.0 allow remote attackers to disrupt COVID-19 contact tracing via Bluetooth broadcasts. BluezonerIdGenerator seeds Math.seedrandom with the current timestamp, then selects six characters from a 36-character alphabet, making the identifier space predictable. An attacker must be within Bluetooth range or distribute broadcasts through nearby transmitters; the vendor disputes practical impact because contact-history comparison exposes false alerts.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-12270
- Published
- Apr 27, 2020
- Updated
- Aug 4, 2024
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-330, T1565.002
- Attack vector
- adjacent
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 27, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Predictable Bluezone identifier generation demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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