Windows 10 and Android users under threat from dangerous Bluetooth flaw dubbed 'BrakTooth'

Windows 10 and Android users are now facing a threat from a dangerous Bluetooth Classic flaw. As per the security experts, 16 vulnerabilities have been discovered, which have been collectively dubbed "BrakTooth." These impact a wide range of devices that rely on Bluetooth to connect to external speakers, headphones, mice, keyboards, and much more.

Further, the flaws affect the chips provided by leading brands like Qualcomm, Intel, and Texas Instruments. For reference, these chips are used by a number of manufacturers including the likes of Microsoft Surface laptops, Dell desktop PCs, as well as several top-tier Android smartphones, including some Samsung, Google Pixel, OnePlus and more smartphones.

The study was conducted by researchers on 13 chips from 11 vendors. That said, the paper from Singapore University says the bugs could be found on at least 1,400 embedded chip components in total. This bug affects a wide range of electronic items including smartphones, laptops as well as smart home gadgets since most of them come with Bluetooth connectivity. In total, more than one billion devices that rely on Bluetooth are believed to be impacted.

As for the damage, it depends on the type of device with the chipset. Some devices can only be crashed after a specially crafted packet is sent to the flawed chip. If this happens, it can be resolved with a simple restart. However, hackers can take advantage of the Bluetooth Classic flaw to remotely run malicious code. It could allow malware to be installed remotely. As per the researchers, the vendors have been informed about these issues months ago before the findings were published. Hence, the vendors have had plenty of time for the relevant patches to be pushed out that remedy the flaws.

How you can protect your Windows 10, Android gadgets: Notably, you will have to make sure that you're running the latest version of the operating system to be protected by the patch crafted by the manufacturers. Security experts at Malwarebytes pointed out that, since the threat revolves around Bluetooth Classic, a bad actor would need to be within "radio range" to carry out an attack.