CVE-2018-5383 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE
Bluetooth firmware or operating system software drivers in macOS versions before 10.13, High Sierra and iOS versions before 11.4, and Android versions before the 2018-06-05 patch may not sufficiently validate elliptic curve parameters used to generate public keys during a Diffie-Hellman key exchange, which may allow a remote attacker to obtain the encryption key used by the device.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/05/2026
This vulnerability affects bluetooth implementations across multiple operating systems including macOS versions prior to 10.13, iOS versions before 11.4, and Android systems before the June 5 2018 security patch. The flaw resides in the elliptic curve cryptography validation process during Diffie-Hellman key exchange operations where the system fails to adequately verify the mathematical parameters used for public key generation. This represents a critical weakness in the cryptographic implementation that directly impacts the security of wireless communications through bluetooth protocols. The vulnerability falls under the category of cryptographic weakness as classified by CWE-310 and specifically relates to improper validation of cryptographic parameters. Attackers can exploit this issue to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by manipulating the elliptic curve parameters, potentially leading to complete compromise of the encryption keys used for bluetooth communications.
The technical flaw stems from insufficient validation of elliptic curve domain parameters during key exchange operations within the bluetooth stack. When bluetooth devices attempt to establish secure connections through Diffie-Hellman key exchange, the system should validate that the elliptic curve parameters meet specific mathematical requirements to prevent attacks such as small subgroup confinement or invalid curve attacks. Without proper validation, malicious actors can inject malformed curve parameters that cause the system to generate predictable or recoverable keys. This vulnerability enables remote attackers to perform cryptographic attacks that bypass normal security measures, potentially allowing unauthorized access to bluetooth communications. The flaw specifically impacts the cryptographic implementation layer where the system should enforce strict validation of curve parameters before accepting them for key generation operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple device categories and communication scenarios where bluetooth is utilized. Mobile devices, laptops, and IoT systems running affected versions become susceptible to cryptographic attacks that can compromise wireless communications security. An attacker positioned within the bluetooth range of a vulnerable device can exploit this weakness to intercept and potentially decrypt bluetooth traffic, including sensitive data transfers, authentication exchanges, and secure communications. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where bluetooth-based device pairing, file transfers, and secure connections are commonly used. This weakness can be leveraged to gain unauthorized access to personal information, corporate data, or to establish persistent access points within network environments.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate system updates and patches provided by the respective vendors. Users must upgrade to the patched versions of macOS 10.13, iOS 11.4, and Android systems released after June 5 2018 to address the cryptographic validation issues. Organizations should implement network monitoring to detect anomalous bluetooth activity that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should consider temporarily disabling bluetooth functionality on affected systems until patches are deployed. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046 which covers network service scanning, and T1566 which involves credential harvesting through social engineering. Additionally this vulnerability maps to CWE-310 which covers cryptographic weaknesses, and specifically addresses improper implementation of cryptographic protocols in the context of elliptic curve cryptography. Organizations should also consider implementing additional network segmentation controls to limit the attack surface and monitor for unusual bluetooth pairing attempts that could indicate exploitation of this weakness.