On some Samsung phones and tablets running Android through 7.1.1, it is possible for an attacker-controlled Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device to pair silently with a vulnerable target device, without any user interaction, when the target device's Bluetooth is on, and it is running an app that offers a connectable BLE advertisement
Published Dec 24, 2020
8.8
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.45%
Description
On some Samsung phones and tablets running Android through 7.1.1, it is possible for an attacker-controlled Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device to pair silently with a vulnerable target device, without any user interaction, when the target device's Bluetooth is on, and it is running an app that offers a connectable BLE advertisement. An example of such an app could be a Bluetooth-based contact tracing app, such as Australia's COVIDSafe app, Singapore's TraceTogether app, or France's TousAntiCovid (formerly StopCovid). As part of the pairing process, two pieces (among others) of personally identifiable information are exchanged: the Identity Address of the Bluetooth adapter of the target device, and its associated Identity Resolving Key (IRK). Either one of these identifiers can be used to perform re-identification of the target device for long term tracking. The list of affected devices includes (but is not limited to): Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy A3, Tab A (2017), J2 Pro (2018), Galaxy Note 4, and Galaxy S5.
Affected products
No data.
Running on/with
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
- n/a
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 4, 2026.
Score over time
2021-2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v5
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed. Showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2026 | 0.45% (0.00451) | 37.00th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.45% (0.00451) | 38.56th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 0.07% (0.00066) | 29.66th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Apr 28, 2024 | 0.07% (0.00066) | 28.11th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.06% (0.00063) | 25.19th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.89% (0.00885) | 27.89th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.40% (0.01404) | 49.02th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 0.77% (0.00765) | 20.97th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 0.17% (0.00171) | 0.00th | v1 |
No CWE recorded.
References (1)
- https://github.com/alwentiu/contact-tracing-research/blob/main/samsung.pdf x_refsource_MISCExploitThird Party Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://github.com/alwentiu/contact-tracing-research/blob/main/samsung.pdf | x_refsource_MISCExploitThird Party Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.