Details

Bluetooth Sharing allows files to be exchanged with Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Rationale:

Disabling Bluetooth Sharing minimizes the risk of an attacker using Bluetooth to remotely attack the system.

Impact:

Control 2.1.1 discusses disabling Bluetooth if no paired devices exist. There is a general expectation that Bluetooth peripherals will be used by most users in Apple’s ecosystem. It is possible that sharing is required and Bluetooth peripherals are not. Bluetooth must be enabled if sharing is an acceptable use case.

Solution

Perform the following to disable Bluetooth Sharing:
Graphical Method:

Open System Preferences

Select Sharing

Uncheck Bluetooth Sharing

Run the following command to disable Bluetooth Sharing is disabled:

sudo -u defaults -currentHost write com.apple.Bluetooth PrefKeyServicesEnabled -bool false

$ sudo -u firstuser defaults -currentHost write com.apple.Bluetooth PrefKeyServicesEnabled -bool false

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/3425

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Configuration Management.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|CM-7
• CSCv7|9.2

Source

• Tenable.com/audits