Given three CVEs issued due to security issues with Airoha Bluetooth chipsets, I wonder whether Fairbuds and/or Fairbuds XL rely on these chipsets. I couldn’t find any info online, maybe someone from Fairphone could shed some light?
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Hello there. Just found this by reading some news and was wondering, if this zero day for Bluetooth is also affecting Fairphone TWS components?
https://cyberinsider.com/bluetooth-zero-day-turns-millions-of-headphones-into-surveillance-devices/
Maybe if someone from FP is reading here by accident, this might then be discussed internally first.
Greetings,
Alex.
Moved your question here in order to keep info in one place (if/when we get some).
@Alon_Brandt do you have any info on that?
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According to the article (thanks for sharing) my non-FP headphones are affected.
Is there anything FP can do in this regard or should I rely on manufacturer to provide me with the update/refrain from using a BT headset in unknown crowded surroundings?
While these attacks are complex and require a local attacker with advanced tooling and close proximity, the danger is significant for high-risk individuals such as journalists, diplomats, and corporate executives.
I know I am overreacting a bit 
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A bit of background: The TWS buds that came with my FP4 died on me a month ago and given the heat this summer, I can’t wear the XL all day.
However, even though I fancy everything Fairphone, I’d have a hard time buying Fairbuds in case the current hardware uses the affected Airoha chipset. If they don’t, then it’s an immediate go for me to get new Fairbuds.
And for my XL, I’d like to know whether those use this chipset as well… just to know. It’s not that much of an issue from a security standpoint because I use them almost exclusively at home.
Also, should the affected Airoha chipset be in either or both Fairbuds, it would be interesting to know whether a firmware patch is possible and planned (which again means all go for purchase) or whether a hardware revision is necessary.
@Alon_Brandt I know, making this public might have an impact on sales and in the worst case render already produced units legacy if no firmware upgrade is possible. But since this is security related, it’s still kinda important to know. Thanks for some news!
It’s a bit of a disappointment not to get any official answer here, but Fairphone is not really known for it’s customer support.
However, for the Fairbuds, the chipset in use appears to be from Bestechnic. The following zoomed still is from the teardown video of iFixit.
I read “BES260??” there which is most likely the rectangular shaped Bestechnic BES2600Z chip designed for TWS. The print on the chip is a match IMO.
It’s of course possible that Fairphone has switched to Airoha at some point since the release of the teardown video in April 2024. However, I doubt it.
For future reference, even if you can’t find a picture on iFixit you can try the FCC website as they provide teardowns and technical info about everything they test.
Although it doesn’t look like there’s any recent hardware on there. I guess their devices aren’t sold there right now.