Apple has released a firmware update for its Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds to fix a high-severity vulnerability that could let nearby attackers listen through the device’s microphone.
The flaw is tracked as CVE-2025-20701 (CVSS 8.8) and stems from incorrect authorization in the Airoha Bluetooth audio SDK. It allows a Bluetooth audio device to pair without user consent, meaning an attacker within Bluetooth range could potentially eavesdrop without any user interaction.
Apple addressed the issue in Beats Firmware Update 1B211. The vulnerability was first flagged in June 2025 by researchers at ERNW GmbH at the TROOPERS security conference in Germany, alongside two other Airoha SoC flaws (CVE-2025-20700 and CVE-2025-20702). Jabra released similar patches for its Link 390 earbuds in December 2025.
The researchers noted that in most cases, these vulnerabilities allow attackers to fully take over headphones via Bluetooth without authentication, reading and writing device RAM and flash, and even hijacking established trust relationships with paired phones.
If you own Beats Studio Buds, update your firmware now.
