Apple Patches Beats Studio Buds Bluetooth Flaw Enabling Nearby Eavesdropping

Apple has released Beats Firmware Update 1B211 to fix a high-severity Bluetooth vulnerability in Beats Studio Buds that could let an attacker within wireless range listen through the earbuds’ microphone under limited conditions. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-20701, affected devices while they were unpaired and actively seeking a pairing request, allowing pre-pairing eavesdropping. Apple said the issue originated in open source code and noted that Apple software was among the affected projects.

The bug was identified in Airoha system-on-chip code by researchers Dennis Heinze and Frieder Steinmetz of ERNW GmbH, who linked it to missing authentication in the Bluetooth BR/EDR radio. ERNW said the flaw could be chained with CVE-2025-20700 and CVE-2025-20702 to enable broader attacks against vulnerable headphones, including issuing phone commands, extracting link keys, accessing call history and contacts, and placing calls, though such attacks require close proximity and substantial technical skill. The update is delivered automatically when the earbuds are paired with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, placed on a charger, and kept within Bluetooth range.