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  • Bluetooth SIG Erratum - Incoming Notification/Indication Tests Upon Reconnection for GATT Client are Invalid

    • SWRA789 august   2023 CC1312R7 , CC1350 , CC1352P , CC1352P7 , CC1352R , CC1354P10 , CC1354R10 , CC2540 , CC2541 , CC2640 , CC2640R2F , CC2640R2F-Q1 , CC2640R2L , CC2642R , CC2642R-Q1 , CC2650 , CC2650MODA , CC2651P3 , CC2651R3 , CC2651R3SIPA , CC2652P , CC2652P7 , CC2652PSIP , CC2652R , CC2652R7 , CC2652RSIP

       

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PSIRT Notification

Bluetooth SIG Erratum - Incoming Notification/Indication Tests Upon Reconnection for GATT Client are Invalid

TI PSIRT ID

TI-PSIRT-2022-120154

Summary

A local attacker can insert itself during a reconnection between Bluetooth® LE GATT client and GATT server and succeed in sending indications or notifications to the GATT client even when the security requirements that were agreed upon during bonding is not met (for example, encryption with GATT server not enabled); thereby, compromising the security of the indications and notifications during a reconnection.

The GATT client tests per Bluetooth specification Version 5.3 and later, Vol3, Part C, Section 10.3.2.2 Handling of GATT indications and notifications does not check if IUT (Implementation Under Test) ignores notifications without establishing required security level after reconnection. Based on implementation, the GATT client can process indications and notifications from GATT server before the security requirements for the reconnection is met.

CVE ID

None

CVSS Score

5.7

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

Affected Products

PartSoftware NameSoftware VersionBLE Stack NameBLE Stack Version
CC2651P3, CC2651R3, CC2651R3SIPA, CC2642R, CC2652R, CC2652P, CC1352R, CC1352P,CC2652RSIP, CC2652PSIP, CC2642R-Q1, CC2652R7, CC2652P7, CC1312R7, CC1352P7SIMPLELINK-CC13XX-CC26XX-SDK: SimpleLink™ CC13xx and CC26xx software development kit (SDK)v6.41.00.17 and earlierBLE5-Stackv2.02.07.00 and earlier
CC2640R2F, CC2640R2L, CC2640R2F-Q1SIMPLELINK-CC2640R2-SDK: SimpleLink™ CC2640R2 SDK - Bluetooth® low energyv5.30.00.03 and earlierBLE-Stackv3.03.08.00 and earlier
BLE5-Stackv1.01.14.00 and earlier
CC1350SIMPLELINK-CC13X0-SDK: SimpleLink™ Sub-1 GHz CC13x0 Software Development Kitv4.20.02.07 and earlierBLE-Stackv2.03.11.00 and earlier
CC2640, CC2650, CC2650MODAN/AN/ABLE-STACK-2-Xv2.02.07.06 and earlier
CC2540, CC2541N/AN/ABLE-STACK-1-Xv1.05.02.00 and earlier

To determine if your product is impacted, check the version of the SimpleLink SDK and BLE stack built into your product. This can be done by looking at the documentation included with SDK.

Potentially Impacted Features

The potential vulnerability can impact Bluetooth® Low Energy devices (running the affected SDK versions) when configured as a Bluetooth Low Energy GATT Client using Bluetooth security modes and levels which require authentication and/or encryption in a connection with the bonded devices.

If the user application is using privacy for Bluetooth LE connections, then, the risk of this vulnerability is mitigated as only valid devices with known IRK (Identity Resolving Key) can establish connection / reconnection. Additionally, upon reconnection, if the GATT client is immediately increasing the security to the level agreed upon during bonding, the risks of this vulnerability is further mitigated.

Suggested Mitigations

The Bluetooth erratum changes propose GATT client role tests to be similar to their GATT server counterparts with the following steps:

  • Bond
  • Subscribe
  • Disconnect
  • Reconnect
  • Ignore notifications/indications
  • Enable security on link
  • Process notifications

The following table lists the SDK releases with mitigations that addresses the potential vulnerability. If using impacted SDKs for which fixes are available, upgrade to the version of the SDK with fixes, or a later version.

Affected SDKFirst SDK version with mitigationsFirst BLE stack version with mitigations
CC13XX-26XX-SDK, BLE5-STACKSimpleLink™ CC13xx CC26xx SDK (7.10.00.98)v2.02.08.00
CC2340 SDK, BLE5-STACKSimpleLink™ Low Power F3 SDK (7.10.00.35)v3.02.01.00
CC2640R2, CC1350, CC26x0, CC25x0 SDK, BLE-STACKNot supported (1)Not supported (1)
CC2640R2 SDK, BLE5-STACKNot supported (1)Not supported (1)
(1) Mitigation on these device stacks are not supported as this is a fix to the BLE stack in devices’ ROM, and with limited ROM patch space on these devices, the patch memory is being reserved for more critical PSIRT tickets in the future. If you have questions, please reach out to psirt@ti.com

External References

  1. Bluetooth Core Specification Revision v5.3 or later
  2. Bluetooth SIG Statement Incoming notification/indication tests for central role are invalid erratum.
  3. Texas Instruments, Handling of GATT Indications and Notifications

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