Apple has updated its Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds to patch a high-severity vulnerability that could be exploited by nearby attackers to eavesdrop on users through the microphone.
Tracked as CVE-2025-20701 (CVSS 8.8), the flaw is an incorrect authorization issue in the Airoha Bluetooth audio SDK that allows pairing a Bluetooth audio device without user consent. “An attacker within Bluetooth range may be able to listen through the microphone of a device which is not yet paired and actively seeking pair requests,” Apple said.
The vulnerability was first disclosed in June 2025 by ERNW GmbH researchers at the TROOPERS security conference. They noted that in most cases, these flaws allow attackers to fully take over headphones via Bluetooth with no authentication or pairing required — simply being within Bluetooth range is the only precondition. Attackers can read and write the device’s RAM and flash, and hijack established trust relationships with paired phones.
The issue has been addressed in Beats Firmware Update 1B211.
