Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone

media.ccc.de
  • vendor of bluetooth chip used in sony, bose, and everyone else's headphones leaves debugging protocol completely open with no authentication over bluetooth low energy

uh oh:

  • remotely connect to headphones over thus protocol without needing a pairing interaction
  • dump "now playing" data
  • connect audio stream and eavesdrop
  • dump your phone number
  • brick the headphones
  • dump the pairing key used to make your phone recognize your headphones as your headphones, and then impersonate your headphones

and that's when the REAL fun starts:

  • talk to your voice assistant remotely
  • make and manage calls while your phone is in your pocket
  • eavesdrop from your phone microphone (by making you call them and then dropping the bluetooth connection so your phone switches to builtin mic)
  • steal your whatsapp from 10ft away (since they have your phone #, the ability to accept the "we'll call and verify it's you" phone call before your phone starts vibrating, and the ability to listen and hear the code)
  • steal your amazon (since you can login thru a phone number and a whatsapp confirmation code)

@quat

Oh ugh. The vendor's own bulletin says that "OEMs have been notified"...

https://www.airoha.com/product-security-bulletin/2025

...but I do not see any software updates for my Bose headphones.

https://support.bose.ca/s/article/quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-software-and-firmware-versions

I did find an update for my Sony headphones dated December 18th 2025 claiming security fixes but nothing like CVE numbers in any vendor update.

https://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/support/software/00278246

(Yes, I wear shirts until they wear out and socks with holes, but I draw the line at a world with so many different noises in it.)

Edit: Apparently I'm a Sony wearer, pro tem at least.

@zygmyd @quat
Yeah Sony is pretty in-transparent about it.
For my WH-1000XM4s they seem to have rolled out an unspecified "Security fix" but nothing for the WF-1000XM5s so far.