# CVE-2020-15238: blueman: Blueman is a GTK+ Bluetooth Manager

CVE-2020-15238 is fixed in blueman on 1 platform, first by blueman 2.0.5-1ubuntu1.1, released October 27, 2020. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-15238
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: n/a (Medium)
- EPSS: 0.0459
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Oct 27, 2020

## Description

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.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | blueman Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS (bionic) | 2.0.5-1ubuntu1.1 | [blueman 2.0.5-1ubuntu1.1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/ubuntu-bionic-blueman-2.0.5-1ubuntu1.1.md) | Oct 27, 2020 |
| Linux | blueman Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (focal) | 2.1.2-1ubuntu0.1 | [blueman 2.1.2-1ubuntu0.1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/ubuntu-focal-blueman-2.1.2-1ubuntu0.1.md) | Oct 27, 2020 |

---

Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

Free to use with attribution: show "Data: Patchblox Patch Radar" with a link to https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar. Terms, including what needs a written agreement: https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar/use-the-data

Product names, logos and trademarks shown on Patch Radar belong to their respective owners. They are used only to identify the software each security fix applies to and to help readers find their platform. Their use does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those owners, and Patchblox is not affiliated with any of them.
