BlueSnarf Revisited: OBEX FTP Service Directory Traversal

As mobile operating systems reach the same level of complexity of computer operating systems, these may be affected by the same vulnerabilities and may be subject to the same kind of attacks. Bluetooth provides connectivity to a mobile phone but this network can also be used as a channel to deploy attacks and access its resources, such as personal information, confidential files or the possibility of making phone calls and consume the user’s balance. When the first attacks to early Bluetooth mobile phones came up, manufacturers were forced to raise awareness about Bluetooth and make improvements in the security of the implementation. In spite of the improvements, we introduce a multi-platform vulnerability for mobile phones that allows a remote attacker to list arbitrary directories, and read and write arbitrary files via Bluetooth. Our experience shows that the attack can be performed in a real environment and it may lead to data theft.