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In a Bluetooth Impersonation Assault (or BIAS), hackers can exploit weaknesses within the Bluetooth protocol to impersonate a trusted machine. “BOSE QC Headphones” within the Bluetooth menu might be a low-orbiting ion cannon ready for an end-user to hook up with it earlier than unleashing all types of injury.
This week, I wish to once more share how hackers can use Flipper Zero to ship sneaky keystrokes to a Mac if a sufferer connects to a doubtlessly malicious Bluetooth machine. This isn’t going to be an entire tutorial since there are tons of guides on the market already. As a substitute, I wish to level out how simple it’s to tug this off, to make you a bit extra paranoid.
Out of the field, Flipper Zero is a reasonably innocent pen-testing instrument. Nonetheless, because the machine is open supply, it may be modified with third-party firmware (on this case, Xtreme) that gives an array of purposes that reap the benefits of the machine’s feature-rich {hardware}. This is similar Xtreme that was making headlines in 2023 with its means to crash iPhones with faux BLE pairing sequences.
Additionally baked in is a wi-fi rubber ducky keyboard referred to as “Unhealthy USB” that works on BLE (Bluetooth Low Vitality). It’s primarily used for automating duties or testing machine safety by simulating a keyboard, coming into keystrokes, and executing scripts a lot sooner than a human can. This, together with BLE’s 100-meter vary, additionally makes it a lovely instrument for hackers.
It took me simply 4 steps and 20 minutes to execute a script to rickroll my MacBook Air.
- Open the Unhealthy USB module on Flipper Zero with Xtreme firmware put in.
- Add your payload of option to the Flipper. I created my very own .txt script to open YouTube.
- Decide a intelligent Bluetooth machine title and hook up with it. I stay in a dense space of town, so I saved mine the default (BadUSB At1l1).
- As soon as proven as paired, I executed the payload.
It’s not simply Macs. This assault can be carried out on iPhone, iPad, and Home windows gadgets. After all, attackers might inflict a lot worse than a rickroll.
Sufferer’s POV
Mitigation
The excellent news? This solely works when a tool is unlocked. The dangerous information? Folks usually don’t train warning when connecting to Bluetooth gadgets. It’s important to confirm you’re connecting to your supposed machine (thank Apple for the H2 chip utilized in AirPods), as malicious actors can deploy a number of gadgets utilizing names that intently mimic official ones. It’s additionally doable to do that with spoofed MAC addresses, making it even tougher to discern.
Turning off Bluetooth when it’s not getting used, eradicating unknown gadgets out of your Bluetooth settings record, and utilizing six-digit pairing codes can stop falling sufferer right here.
Though these assaults are uncommon, it doesn’t imply they by no means happen. I might argue that they occur steadily sufficient to warrant some concern, although many victims stay unaware as a result of these assaults usually function covertly within the background. Hackers love persistence. Why would they brick a Mac on one hack once they can hold returning for extra?
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