CVE-2023-50229 BlueZ Phone Book Access Profile Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

High 7.1 Published 3 May 2024 Updated 4 Nov 2025

Network-adjacent attackers can execute arbitrary code with root privileges via a heap buffer overflow in BlueZ's Phone Book Access Profile.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2023-50229?

CVE-2023-50229 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in BlueZ, published on 3 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

BlueZ Phone Book Access Profile Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of BlueZ. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must connect to a malicious Bluetooth device.

The specific flaw exists within the handling of the Phone Book Access profile. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-20936.

Weakness: CWE-122

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-50229?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Bluez Bluez.

How do I fix CVE-2023-50229?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2023-50229 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-50229 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as AZL-40217, AZL-40267, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-50229, GHSA-5p3x-h55j-m7f2, OESA-2024-1029, ROOT-OS-ALPINE-318-CVE-2023-50229 and 1 more.