CVE-2006-6905 in Bluetooth stack
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Widcomm Bluetooth stack allows remote attackers to gain administrative access (aka Remote Root) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/04/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-6905 represents a critical security flaw within the Widcomm Bluetooth stack implementation that enables remote attackers to achieve administrative privileges on affected systems. This unspecified vulnerability specifically targets the Bluetooth protocol stack developed by Widcomm, which was widely adopted in various mobile devices, laptops, and embedded systems during the mid-2000s era. The security implications are particularly severe as the flaw allows attackers to escalate their privileges to root level access without requiring physical proximity or authentication credentials, making it a highly dangerous vulnerability in the context of wireless communications.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper access controls and privilege management within the Bluetooth stack components that handle incoming connection requests and authentication processes. While the exact attack vectors remain unspecified in the initial description, such vulnerabilities typically arise from buffer overflows, improper input validation, or flawed privilege escalation mechanisms within the Bluetooth protocol implementation. The Widcomm stack's handling of Bluetooth service discovery and connection establishment processes likely contains a flaw that allows malicious actors to manipulate the system's authentication flow or exploit a weakness in the privilege separation mechanisms. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-264, which categorizes issues related to permissions, privileges, and access controls in software systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of Bluetooth-enabled devices. Remote attackers can leverage this flaw to gain complete administrative control over systems, potentially leading to data exfiltration, system compromise, or use as a foothold for further network infiltration. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that Bluetooth technology was widely deployed in both consumer and enterprise environments, meaning that thousands of devices could be potentially compromised simultaneously. This vulnerability would be classified under ATT&CK technique T1068, which deals with exploit for privilege escalation, and could enable subsequent techniques such as T1083 for discovering system information and T1074 for data staging.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Widcomm stack implementations, as well as network-level restrictions on Bluetooth services where possible. System administrators should disable Bluetooth functionality when not actively required, implement strict access controls for Bluetooth services, and conduct comprehensive security assessments of all Bluetooth-enabled devices within the network infrastructure. Organizations must also consider implementing network segmentation to limit the potential lateral movement that could occur if an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patches to ensure they do not disrupt legitimate Bluetooth functionality while addressing the underlying privilege escalation flaw. Additionally, security monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous Bluetooth connection patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts.