CVE-2020-15238

What it is

Blueman is a GTK+ Bluetooth Manager. In Blueman before 2.1.4, the DhcpClient method of the D-Bus interface to blueman-mechanism is prone to an argument injection vulnerability. The impact highly depends on the system configuration. If Polkit-1 is disabled and for versions lower than 2.0.6, any local user can possibly exploit this. If Polkit-1 is enabled for version 2.0.6 and later, a possible attacker needs to be allowed to use the `org.blueman.dhcp.client` action. That is limited to users in the wheel group in the shipped rules file that do have the privileges anyway. On systems with ISC DHCP client (dhclient), attackers can pass arguments to `ip link` with the interface name that can e.g. be used to bring down an interface or add an arbitrary XDP/BPF program. On systems with dhcpcd and without ISC DHCP client, attackers can even run arbitrary scripts by passing `-c/path/to/script` as an interface name. Patches are included in 2.1.4 and master that change the DhcpClient D-Bus method(s) to accept BlueZ network object paths instead of network interface names. A backport to 2.0(.8) is also available. As a workaround, make sure that Polkit-1-support is enabled and limit privileges for the `org.blueman.dhcp.client` action to users that are able to run arbitrary commands as root anyway in /usr/share/polkit-1/rules.d/blueman.rules.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network with a low-privilege account. High risk of data tampering.

Exploit odds

4.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2020-10-27 19:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 02:56 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 4.6% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 7.1 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2020-10-27 19:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 02:56 UTC

Exploit probability

4.6% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-74

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Blueman Project Blueman < 2.1.4
• Debian Linux 9.0
• Debian Linux 10.0
• Fedoraproject Fedora 31
• Fedoraproject Fedora 32
• Fedoraproject Fedora 33

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.1

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

High

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

High

Availability

Low

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2020-15238.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2020-15238. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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