New Bluetooth Headphone Vulnerabilities Allow Hackers to Hijack Connected Smartphones

Security researchers have disclosed critical vulnerabilities in millions of Airoha-based Bluetooth headphones and earbuds that allow attackers to compromise connected smartphones without user interaction or device pairing.

The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2025-20700, CVE-2025-20701, and CVE-2025-20702, affect popular brands including Sony, Marshall, JBL, Jabra, and Bose.

Vulnerability Overview

CVE ID	Vulnerability	Severity	Transport
CVE-2025-20700	Missing Authentication for GATT Services (BLE)	Critical	Bluetooth Low Energy
CVE-2025-20701	Missing Authentication for Bluetooth BR/EDR	Critical	Bluetooth Classic
CVE-2025-20702	Critical Capabilities in RACE Protocol	Critical	USB, BLE, Classic

The flaws stem from Airoha’s RACE (Remote Audio Call Enhancement) protocol, a custom debugging interface exposed over Bluetooth without authentication requirements.

An attacker within Bluetooth range can connect silently to vulnerable headphones, extract cryptographic link keys stored in flash memory, and impersonate the trusted device to a victim’s smartphone.

Attack Chain

Researchers demonstrated a four-step attack chain: first, connecting to headphones via unprotected BLE; then extracting the Bluetooth Link Key used for authentication between the headphones and the phone; and finally, impersonating the trusted headphones to gain privileged access to the victim’s device.

Once connected, attackers can trigger voice assistants, intercept calls, access contact lists, and eavesdrop on conversations via the phone’s microphone.

More than 30 device models are confirmed to be vulnerable, including Sony WF-1000XM series, Marshall speakers, JBL earbuds, and Beyerdynamic headphones.

The actual impact extends far beyond confirmed cases, as thousands of audio devices worldwide incorporate Airoha chipsets.

Airoha released SDK patches in June 2025, but vendor adoption remains inconsistent. Only Jabra and Marshall have publicly acknowledged firmware fixes.

Sony initially failed to respond; Beyerdynamic proactively addressed the issue.

Researchers recommend that users update firmware immediately, remove unused paired devices from their phones, and consider using wired headphones for sensitive communications.

The research team released the RACE Toolkit, enabling users to verify device vulnerability status.

This disclosure follows responsible disclosure practices initiated in March 2025, with researchers publishing full technical details after six months to allow vendors to remediate while enabling users to assess their risk.

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