Apple Patches Beats Studio Buds Wiretap Flaw
Your earbuds should not become someone else’s microphone. Apple released Beats Firmware Update 1B211 on June 16 to fix a Bluetooth vulnerability in Beats Studio Buds that could have let an attacker within range listen through the earbuds’ microphone while the device was unpaired and actively seeking a connection. The issue, tracked as CVE-2025-20701, highlights why wireless accessories should be part of routine device security checks, especially when they are used near work phones, laptops, calls, and voice assistants. What Apple fixed Apple patched a Bluetooth vulnerability in Beats Studio Buds that could have exposed the earbuds’ microphone under specific pairing conditions. In its security advisory, Apple said an attacker within Bluetooth range may have been able to listen through the microphone of a device that was not yet paired and was actively seeking a pairing request. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2025-20701. Apple described it as a vulnerability in open source code and said Apple software was among the affected projects. The company credited Dennis Heinze and Frieder Steinmetz of ERNW GmbH for reporting …









