Skip to main content
Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2020-15238

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2020-10-27
  • WeaknessCWE-74 · CWE-88

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

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.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2020-10-28Exploit-DB entryExploit-DB

Versions per branch

NVD
Fedoraproject fedora
BranchAffectedFixed in
31.x= 31no fix published
32.x= 32no fix published
33.x= 33no fix published
Debian debian linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
9.0= 9.0no fix published
10.0= 10.0no fix published
Blueman project blueman
BranchAffectedFixed in
2.1< 2.1.42.1.4

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • bluemanUbuntu:20.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 2.1.2-1ubuntu0.1
  • bluemanUbuntu:18.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 2.0.5-1ubuntu1.1
  • bluemanUbuntu:16.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 2.0.4-1ubuntu2.1
  • bluemanSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP2all versions · fixed in 2.1.4-bp152.2.3.1
  • bluemanSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP2all versions · fixed in 2.1.4-bp152.2.6.1
  • bluemanopenSUSE:Leap 15.2all versions · fixed in 2.1.4-bp152.2.3.1
  • bluemanMageia:7all versions · fixed in 2.1.4-1.mga7
  • bluemanDebian:14all versions · fixed in 2.1.4-1

4 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2020-15238 Red Hat Product Security

    blueman: local privilege escalation in org.blueman.Mechanism D-Bus interface

Full record on NVD

Fix

No fix published by the sources we read yet. NVD record

Detection

read 2026-11-09 09:28 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
EDB-48963
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

  • CNACVSS 3.17.1known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.17read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.06.9read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-74known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-88read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score4.6 %2026-11-08
  • Exploit-DBdetectionread 2026-11-09
  • OSVaffected packages—

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2020-10-27
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-15238?

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.

Is CVE-2020-15238 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2020-15238 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 4.6% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-15238?

CVE-2020-15238 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Running blueman? Hear about its next vulnerability

Surveillance reads the versions in your stack — a domain, a lockfile or a list — checks each CVE against the ranges its sources publish, and alerts you when one you run is exploited or enters CISA KEV. A version it cannot read stays « version not verified ».

Get alerts for this productCISA KEV additions, November 2026Search CVEs

No credit card required · No monthly cap on website lookups · 250 API requests/month

Go further

Related vulnerabilities

Same product first, then the same vendor advisory and the same publication week.

Back to CVE Database

Sources for this record