Cc256xcqfn Em FirmwareOperating system · Ti

CVE-2021-34149

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Bluetooth Classic implementation on the Texas Instruments CC256XCQFN-EM does not properly handle the reception of continuous LMP_AU_Rand packets, allowing attackers in radio range to trigger a denial of service (deadlock) of the device by flooding it with LMP_AU_Rand packets after the paging procedure.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The Texas Instruments CC256XCQFN-EM Bluetooth chip's Classic (BR/EDR) implementation fails to properly handle continuous LMP_AU_Rand (Link Manager Protocol Authentication Random) packets. An attacker within radio range can flood the device with these packets after the paging procedure, causing a deadlock condition that results in denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware patches from Texas Instruments. If no patch is available, implement network-level controls to limit Bluetooth exposure to trusted devices and consider replacing affected hardware.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Cc256xcqfn Em FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify TI CC256XCQFN-EM chip presence
    Review hardware specifications, device documentation, or Bill of Materials (BOM) to determine if the Texas Instruments CC256XCQFN-EM Bluetooth chip is installed in the system
    Affected if The device uses the TI CC256XCQFN-EM chip for Bluetooth functionality
  2. Verify Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) is enabled
    Check system Bluetooth stack configuration or firmware settings to confirm Classic Bluetooth mode is active (not just BLE)
    Affected if Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) is enabled and operational on the device
  3. Check for Bluetooth deadlock behavior
    Monitor Bluetooth subsystem for unexplained freezes or complete unresponsiveness where the Bluetooth interface becomes non-functional after a period of activity
    Affected if Device exhibits Bluetooth deadlock or total loss of Bluetooth functionality without other hardware failure
  4. Assess physical radio exposure
    Evaluate the deployment environment to determine if untrusted attackers could be within Bluetooth radio range to send malicious LMP_AU_Rand packets
    Affected if Device is deployed in an area where untrusted individuals could be within radio range and send continuous LMP_AU_Rand packets after paging

A system is affected if it contains the TI CC256XCQFN-EM chip with Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) enabled, as this specific hardware/firmware combination is vulnerable to the LMP_AU_Rand packet deadlock flaw in all versions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided firmware patches from Texas Instruments. If no patch is available, implement network-level controls to limit Bluetooth exposure to trusted devices and consider replacing affected hardware.

Fix this in Cc256xcqfn Em Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,510
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-34149 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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