Google-owned Nest was pointed out to contain security flaws, since the company’s cameras can be hacked and taken over on a Bluetooth network, according to Security researcher Jason Doyle.
Doyle has published a report indicating three vulnerabilities he’s found in Nest models such as the Dropcam, Dropcam Pro, Nest Cam Outdoor and Nest Cam Indoor running Nest’s version 5.2.1 firmware.
The first type of security breach is sending an overlong Wi-Fi SSID parameter on a Bluetooth Low Energy network to trigger a buffer overflow in the camera, causing the device to crash, stop recording and reboot. The second type creates a similar overflow by sending an encrypted Wi-Fi password parameter.
The third type is more serious. In this case, a hacker sends the camera a new Wi-Fi SSID to connect, causing disconnection from the current network. The camera will then try to join a new SSID which doesn’t exist, before reconnecting to the previous network around 90 seconds later.
During this timeframe, the camera ceases to operate and no footage is recorded. The reason is that Nest stores video only on Internet-based cloud but not local space. As such, homeowners won’t get any notices when a burglar broke into the house.
The above mentioned attacks need to be carried out on a Bluetooth Low Energy network, which is not too difficult for someone waiting by the house to break in. Bluetooth is enabled on Nest cameras by default, which leaves them vulnerable for attacks.
Doyle said he notified Nest last October of the security flaws but the company hasn’t released any software updates to fix the bugs. This is why he brought the issue into public view, Doyle said. After getting the media attention, Nest announced the company is aware of the issue and already developed a fix for it. The update will be rolled out in the coming days.