{"id":"CVE-2021-38543","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"TP-Link UE330 USB splitter devices through 2021-08-09, in certain specific use cases in which the device supplies power to audio-output equipment, allow remote attackers to recover","description":"TP-Link UE330 USB splitter devices through 2021-08-09, in certain specific use cases in which the device supplies power to audio-output equipment, allow remote attackers to recover speech signals from an LED on the device, via a telescope and an electro-optical sensor, aka a \"Glowworm\" attack. We assume that the USB splitter supplies power to some speakers. The power indicator LED of the USB splitter is connected directly to the power line, as a result, the intensity of the USB splitter's power indicator LED is correlative to its power consumption. The sound played by the connected speakers affects the USB splitter's power consumption and as a result is also correlative to the light intensity of the LED. By analyzing measurements obtained from an electro-optical sensor directed at the power indicator LED of the USB splitter, we can recover the sound played by the connected speakers.","publishedAt":"2021-08-11T15:26:02.000Z","updatedAt":"2024-08-04T01:44:23.424Z","severity":null,"assigner":"mitre","products":["n/a n/a"],"affected":[{"vendor":"n/a","product":"n/a","versions":[{"version":"n/a","status":"affected"}]}],"references":["https://www.nassiben.com/glowworm-attack"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T19:48:49.871Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2021/38xxx/CVE-2021-38543.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.1","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2021-38543","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2021-08-11T15:26:02.000Z","dateUpdated":"2024-08-04T01:44:23.424Z","assignerShortName":"mitre","assignerOrgId":"8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca","dateReserved":"2021-08-11T00:00:00.000Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"TP-Link UE330 USB splitter devices through 2021-08-09, in certain specific use cases in which the device supplies power to audio-output equipment, allow remote attackers to recover speech signals from an LED on the device, via a telescope and an electro-optical sensor, aka a \"Glowworm\" attack. We assume that the USB splitter supplies power to some speakers. The power indicator LED of the USB splitter is connected directly to the power line, as a result, the intensity of the USB splitter's power indicator LED is correlative to its power consumption. The sound played by the connected speakers affects the USB splitter's power consumption and as a result is also correlative to the light intensity of the LED. By analyzing measurements obtained from an electro-optical sensor directed at the power indicator LED of the USB splitter, we can recover the sound played by the connected speakers."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"n/a","product":"n/a","versions":[{"version":"n/a","status":"affected"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://www.nassiben.com/glowworm-attack","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"description":"n/a","lang":"en","type":"text"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"mitre","dateUpdated":"2021-08-11T15:26:02.000Z","orgId":"8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca"},"x_legacyV4Record":{"CVE_data_meta":{"ASSIGNER":"cve@mitre.org","ID":"CVE-2021-38543","STATE":"PUBLIC"},"affects":{"vendor":{"vendor_data":[{"product":{"product_data":[{"product_name":"n/a","version":{"version_data":[{"version_value":"n/a"}]}}]},"vendor_name":"n/a"}]}},"data_format":"MITRE","data_type":"CVE","data_version":"4.0","description":{"description_data":[{"lang":"eng","value":"TP-Link UE330 USB splitter devices through 2021-08-09, in certain specific use cases in which the device supplies power to audio-output equipment, allow remote attackers to recover speech signals from an LED on the device, via a telescope and an electro-optical sensor, aka a \"Glowworm\" attack. We assume that the USB splitter supplies power to some speakers. The power indicator LED of the USB splitter is connected directly to the power line, as a result, the intensity of the USB splitter's power indicator LED is correlative to its power consumption. The sound played by the connected speakers affects the USB splitter's power consumption and as a result is also correlative to the light intensity of the LED. By analyzing measurements obtained from an electro-optical sensor directed at the power indicator LED of the USB splitter, we can recover the sound played by the connected speakers."}]},"problemtype":{"problemtype_data":[{"description":[{"lang":"eng","value":"n/a"}]}]},"references":{"reference_data":[{"name":"https://www.nassiben.com/glowworm-attack","refsource":"MISC","url":"https://www.nassiben.com/glowworm-attack"}]}}},"adp":[{"title":"CVE Program Container","references":[{"url":"https://www.nassiben.com/glowworm-attack","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred"]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CVE","orgId":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108","dateUpdated":"2024-08-04T01:44:23.424Z"}}]}}}