Device tracking via allowlist response side channel
Published Nov 8, 2022 · Updated May 1, 2025
Information leakage in Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0 through 5.2 allows physically proximate attackers to identify BLE devices. The allowlist filter responds differently to crafted scan requests carrying captured peer addresses, exposing a response-or-silence oracle despite RPA rotation. Exploitation requires Bluetooth proximity and an allowlist-configured, intermittently disconnected device; it reveals device associations that enable tracking but does not alter data or interrupt service.
Summary
What happened
Information leakage in Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0 through 5.2 allows physically proximate attackers to identify BLE devices. The allowlist filter responds differently to crafted scan requests carrying captured peer addresses, exposing a response-or-silence oracle despite RPA rotation. Exploitation requires Bluetooth proximity and an allowlist-configured, intermittently disconnected device; it reveals device associations that enable tracking but does not alter data or interrupt service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-35473
- Published
- Nov 8, 2022
- Updated
- May 1, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-203, CWE-294, T1040
- Attack vector
- adjacent
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 8, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 1, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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
- Bluetooth Address Tracking attacksproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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