CVE-2021-1683

Peer impersonation via reflected pairing public key

Published Jan 12, 2021 · Updated Oct 8, 2024

Authentication bypass in Microsoft Windows Bluetooth allows physically proximate attackers to impersonate an encrypted pairing peer. During Passkey authentication, the implementation accepts a remote public key whose X coordinate matches the locally generated key, enabling crafted response reflections to reveal the random passkey bit by bit. The attacker must be within wireless range of two vulnerable devices as they initiate BR/EDR or LE pairing with Passkey entry; exploitation authenticates the responder to the attacker, not a transparent connection to both devices.

CVSS severity5.0
Medium
EPSS probability1.65%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in Microsoft Windows Bluetooth allows physically proximate attackers to impersonate an encrypted pairing peer. During Passkey authentication, the implementation accepts a remote public key whose X coordinate matches the locally generated key, enabling crafted response reflections to reveal the random passkey bit by bit. The attacker must be within wireless range of two vulnerable devices as they initiate BR/EDR or LE pairing with Passkey entry; exploitation authenticates the responder to the attacker, not a transparent connection to both devices.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-1683
Published
Jan 12, 2021
Updated
Oct 8, 2024
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Windows 10 Version 1507
Classifications
T1557
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 12, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 8, 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?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=10.0.0 <publication

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1507version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1909version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1803version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 8.1version=6.3.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 2004version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2016version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 20H2version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)version=6.3.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server version 20H2version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1607version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 2004version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1809version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2012 R2version=6.3.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication

Published CVSS scores

5.5NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
5.0Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
2.1NISTAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1557Adversary-in-the-Middle

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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