Manual Exploits – Assessing Device Security Through Direct Interaction

This check could be used to assess the severity of the attacks. If the target device is pairable even if the user does not navigate to the pairing/discovery menu then such a device has a higher exposure to the threats.

It should be noted that previous research showed that Bluetooth MAC addresses could be passively collected with a high probability.

To check the target device:

• obtain a MAC address of a target
• do not navigate to the pairing/discovery menu
• try to connect to the target using bluetoothctl and hcitool

Only The Vehicle Can Initiate A Connection

This check applies mainly to the In-vehicle-infotainment systems (IVI).

IVI systems generally allow the phone to connect to them but lack the capability of connecting back.

There are also such IVI systems that allow the connection to be initiated in both ways.

The most secure one is a connection initiated by the IVI system.

It should be also noted that defences for the attacks might be implemented for a connection initiated by the phone but the same defences might be lacking when the connection is initiated by the IVI system.

Fast Reboot

This is a check whether or not it is possible to reboot the target device.

Some devices like In-Vehicle-Infotainment systems mainly do not allow to be rebooted unless one switches off and closes the vehicle for 10-20 minutes.

The result could be additionally used to assess the severity of Denial of Service exploits.