A high-severity vulnerability has been identified in multiple Alpine in-vehicle infotainment systems. This flaw allows a remote attacker to take full control of the device by sending a specially crafted digital business card (vCard), potentially leading to data theft from connected phones or unauthorized use of the system's features. Organizations using affected Alpine products in their vehicle fleets should prioritize applying the vendor-provided security patch to mitigate this risk.

The vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow within the vCard parsing component of the Alpine infotainment software. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending a malicious vCard file, likely via Bluetooth, to a vulnerable device. The malformed vCard contains more data than the buffer allocated to process it, causing the extra data to overwrite adjacent memory on the stack, which can include the function's return address. By carefully crafting the overflow data, an attacker can redirect the program's execution flow to their own malicious code, achieving remote code execution (RCE) with the privileges of the infotainment system's software.

This vulnerability is rated as High severity with a CVSS score of 7.4. Successful exploitation could have a significant business impact, especially for organizations with vehicle fleets. An attacker gaining control of the infotainment unit could access sensitive data synced from paired smartphones, such as contacts, call history, and text messages, leading to a data breach. Furthermore, an attacker could potentially activate the in-cabin microphone for eavesdropping, track the vehicle's location via GPS, or cause driver distraction, posing a safety risk. The potential for reputational damage and liability resulting from a breach of customer or employee data is substantial.

Immediate Action: Per the vendor's guidance, organizations must apply the security patches immediately, prioritizing any systems that are exposed to untrusted connections (e.g., vehicles used by multiple drivers or the public). Review system access logs and Bluetooth connection history for any unusual or unauthorized device pairings or file transfer attempts.

Proactive Monitoring: Monitor system logs for errors or crashes related to the vCard parsing service or Bluetooth file transfers. Network traffic monitoring (if available) should be used to detect anomalous outbound connections from infotainment units. Any unexpected reboots, performance degradation, or unusual behavior of the head unit should be investigated as a potential indicator of compromise.

Compensating Controls: If patching cannot be immediately deployed, implement the following compensating controls:

• Disable Bluetooth connectivity on the Alpine head unit.
• If Bluetooth is required, enforce a strict policy to only pair with trusted, known devices.
• Instruct users to decline all incoming vCard or contact-sharing requests from unknown or untrusted sources.

Public Exploit Available: false

Given the high-severity rating (CVSS 7.4) and the risk of remote code execution, this vulnerability poses a significant threat. Although it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog, we strongly recommend that organizations treat this as a high-priority issue. All affected Alpine systems should be identified and patched on an expedited basis. Until patches are fully deployed, implement the recommended compensating controls, such as disabling Bluetooth or restricting pairings, to reduce the attack surface and mitigate immediate risk.