Security Intelligence
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The small portable pen testing tool, known as a Flipper Zero, is now capable of aggressively spamming Android and Windows device users with bogus Bluetooth connection requests, thanks to a new firmware called ‘Xtreme’.
The capability was revealed shortly after another researcher discovered that, after some minor tweaks to Flipper Zero’s firmware, it could be used to mimic the Bluetooth requests used to support the discovery and connection between Apple devices.
Flipper Zero Device (Source: joom.com)
Devices on the receiving end of these requests will display a message, asking the user if they want to connect to the device that sent the request.
Source: Bleeping Computer
Analysis
As it stands right now, this spam attack is more of a nuisance than a threat since it cannot perform code execution on recipient devices or cause direct harm. It’s similar to when people use Apple’s AirDrop or similar file-sharing apps on planes to send unsolicited memes and other pictures to Apple users who accept the request.
However, should the range of the attack increase, and it appears at least one method for this has been developed, the attack could evolve into a more serious threat, especially if unsuspecting users accept the requests and subsequently connect to malicious devices.
Mitigation
Unfortunately, it does not appear that patches are available for this issue, however, users can change the settings on their devices to prevent seeing these spam requests.
Android users can turn notifications off by going to Settings – Google – Nearby Share.
For Windows users, notifications can be turned off by going to Bluetooth & Devices – Devices – Device Settings – Show notifications to connect using Swift Pair.;
