Armis Labs have recently revealed a set of new vulnerabilities that are together being called BlueBorne that affect almost all the devices with Bluetooth capabilities. The vulnerabilities affect almost all the devices running on Windows, Linux, Android and iOS. Some of the manufacturers of these devices or the operating system developers have already released the patches to fix the BlueBorne vulnerability. For example, Microsoft has released a series of patches on 12th September 2017 to address these vulnerabilities.
The BlueBorne vulnerability is very serious as it allows a man in the middle attack to be performed without having to pair your device with the device of the attacker. If Bluetooth is turned on in your device and you are using it for communicating with any of the devices, then you are vulnerable to a BlueBorne based attack.
If you want to know if your Android smartphone is vulnerable to these vulnerabilities then you can download and install the app developed by Armis Labs. The app called BlueBorne Scanner helps you to scan not only your own device, but the devices around you. As already stated, you do not have to pair the device for the BlueBorne attack. BlueBorne Scanner can find out about other vulnerable devices in the Bluetooth connection range around you.
After launching the app, you can tap on the Tap to Check button and it will tell you instantly if your device is affected by this vulnerability. A new button soon appears Check devices around me, clicking on which will scan all the devices around you within the Bluetooth connection range.
If your device is affected, then you should wait for the updates to be deployed by your device manufacturer in the future and avoid using Bluetooth in the meanwhile. For more information, you can visit the Armis Labs website at https://www.armis.com/blueborne/.