BluezApplication

CVE-2023-51592

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
BlueZ Audio Profile AVRCP parse_media_folder Out-Of-Bounds Read Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to disclose sensitive information via Bluetooth on affected installations of BlueZ. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must connect to a malicious device. The specific flaw exists within the handling of the AVRCP protocol. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a read past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-20854.

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 · high confidence

BlueZ's implementation of the AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile) contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data during media folder parsing. Attackers within Bluetooth range can trigger this by having a target connect to a malicious device, allowing disclosure of sensitive information from memory beyond the allocated buffer. While the CVSS indicates user interaction is required, the advisory notes this flaw can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution as root.

MitigationApply BlueZ security updates addressing the AVRCP validation flaw; until patches are available, users should avoid pairing with untrusted Bluetooth devices and disable Bluetooth when not in use.

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
BluezApplication
Affected:= 5.66

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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 BlueZ installation
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep bluez' on Debian-based systems, 'rpm -qa | grep bluez' on RHEL-based systems, or check for 'bluetoothd' process with 'ps aux | grep bluetoothd'
    Affected if BlueZ is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed BlueZ version
    Run 'bluetoothctl --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep bluez' to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.66
  3. Verify Bluetooth service status
    Run 'systemctl status bluetooth' or 'service bluetooth status' to check if Bluetooth daemon is active
    Affected if Bluetooth service is running and enabled
  4. Confirm AVRCP capability is present
    Check if AVRCP profile is available by examining Bluetooth adapter capabilities via 'bluetoothctl list' or by reviewing loaded Bluetooth profiles in the system
    Affected if AVRCP profile support is present in the Bluetooth stack
  5. Review recent Bluetooth pairings
    Examine pairing history with 'bt-device --list' or check /var/lib/bluetooth/ for paired device records
    Affected if The system has recently paired with untrusted or unknown Bluetooth devices

A system is affected only if it runs BlueZ version exactly 5.66, has Bluetooth enabled, and supports AVRCP functionality that could connect to a malicious Bluetooth device.

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 BlueZ security updates addressing the AVRCP validation flaw; until patches are available, users should avoid pairing with untrusted Bluetooth devices and disable Bluetooth when not in use.

Fix this in Bluez Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-51592 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2023-51592 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data