Bluetooth Low Energy hardware-less HackMe

by do son · November 25, 2020

Bluetooth Low Energy hardware-less HackMe

The project aims to introduce the BLE protocol and its security basics. A standard Windows 10 computer with a Bluetooth interface will simulate various BLE devices – on the radio layer working exactly like real ones. In a series of tasks with increasing levels of complexity, allows to get familiar with BLE advertisements, beacons, connections, take control over talking BLE smart bulb, reverse-engineer the communication, brute force passwords, and even hack real smart lock.

System requirements

Windows 10 Anniversary Edition
Bluetooth adapter – should work with most adapters built-in standard laptops, not necessarily with external dongle

The tasks are designed to be solved using a free Android mobile application, connecting to the simulated devices via BLE (iOS has limited low-level BLE features).

It is also possible to use other BLE tools, for example running on Linux or Mac, however, details are not covered in the HackMe instructions.