Ankura CTIX FLASH Update - December 5, 2023

Ransomware/Malware Activity

Bluetooth Compromise Coined "BLUFFS" Allows Attackers to Conduct Adversary-in-the-Middle Attacks

Researchers at EURECOM have developed six (6) new attack packages called "BLUFFS" that break the encryption of Bluetooth sessions. One of the original researchers stated that the attack targets previously unknown flaws in how the Bluetooth standard generates session keys. This is important as it means the Bluetooth standard itself has a flaw and is not limited to any specific hardware or software platform. Tracked as CVE-2023-24023, this issue impacts Bluetooth Core Specification 4.2, released in December 2014, through 5.4, released in February 2023. The issue works by exploiting the session key creation process to force the key created for the communication session to be abnormally short. This short length limits the possible combinations and thus allows the attacker to brute force the key so that decryption of the session is possible.