The Bluetooth protocol suffers from an authentication bypass flaw, CVE-2023-45866, allowing attackers within Bluetooth range to connect to vulnerable devices without user confirmation. This flaw, discovered by software engineer Marc Newlin, permits the injection of keystrokes, potentially enabling unauthorized actions like app installations or message forwarding. Newlin observed this issue in macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux systems, originating from a combination of implementation faults and protocol vulnerabilities. Google has addressed the vulnerability in Android security updates from December 2023, providing patches for devices running Android 11 to 14. Linux distributions have also released fixes, although the patch remains disabled by default in some platforms, except for ChromeOS. Notably, even Lockdown Mode in macOS and iOS doesn’t prevent this attack if Bluetooth is enabled and a Magic Keyboard is paired.
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