Bluez trying to connect to my PC?
Bluez trying to connect to my PC?
I'm using Windows and only asking here because Google says it's a Linux thing, but my question is what is a Bluez and why was it trying to connect to my computer at 5AM this morning?
@JokeDeity Seeing a device called "Bluez" trying to connect to your computer (in some undefined way) doesn't necessarily mean it has anything to do with bluez.
I mean, sure, I really don't know.
what is a Bluez Linux bluetooth protocol stack
why was it trying to connect to my computer
Maybe you have some linux devices like IoT that are connecting to your computer via bluetooth
Maybe. Nothing new has been added at my home, I only noticed it as I was leaving for work and since it weirded me out because it just kept trying to connect every time I denied it access I disabled my Bluetooth and left, it's not trying to connect now that I'm back home and have enabled my Bluetooth. The only thing I have connected recently is my PS5 controller and it's showing up correctly.
There's not really enough information here to go on. A quick search comes back saying bluez is a Bluetooth protocol implementation.
Are you seeing a device trying to connect to Bluetooth on your Windows machine? Is it a device on the internet trying to connect to your machine?
Can you post the logs that you're seeing please?
I disabled my Bluetooth as I saw it leaving for work, of anyone knows how I can pull up a log for this on Windows that would maybe help me figure out what it was.
How did you see it in the first place? I'm trying to help you get to the bottom of it but without answering the appropriate questions or providing a way for us to analyse it it's going to be extremely difficult unless someone comes along who knows more. Anyway best of luck ans hopefully you find out.
It's the name of "Bluetooth" program on Linux. Used to control Bluetooth adapters and chips.
It very well could be a neighbor with a Linux computer. As others have said, bluez is the name of a Linux Bluetooth controller. Bluetooth can have surprising range, and if you're in an apartment, that'd be my first guess. It could be just a passive scan for devices the OS is doing.
A large number of smart devices run Linux. A second guess is, have you acquired any devices recently with WiFi? I have a wireless camera that I know is running Linux.
This does sound very unusual that it would try to connect, so I wanted to add more context about how bluetooth works, which might help figure out where to look next or if you should look into it at all
In bluetooth there is the idea of a central device and peripheral device. Peripheral devices advertise of their existence in hopes that a central device establishes a connection. The central device always has the final say. For example, a phone (central device) connecting to bluetooth headphones (peripheral device).
Your computer should really only act as a central device. So you get to choose which devices are allowed to connect .. but there are two exceptions:
- a device can auto-connect to a previously paired device. Maybe you accidentally paired with the Linux device, or thought it was another device. You can unpair / forget the device if you did.
- special software which auto-connects to devices. For example the nintendo switch auto-connects to controllers when the "change grip/order" menu is open. I think this would be very unusual, even for malware.
Technically, the bluetooth spec does allow bluetooth devices to be a central and peripheral at the same time. In theory if Windows is advertising itself as a peripheral, then the Linux device could connect as a central. The issue is, I don't know if or when Windows is sending these bluetooth advertising packets. Maybe when bluetooth settings are open or if you have a wifi hotspot enabled?
Also, not all devices support running both modes at the same time, so you can rule it out if the device can't be a peripheral. According to this guide, this is how you check that: https://www.howto-connect.com/see-if-windows-10-pc-supports-bluetooth-low-energy-peripheral-role/
If it just appeared in the connectable device list, then there is nothing to worry about really, bluetooth has some range to it, and it could just be a neighbor's device.
Great point that I hadn't even considered, why was it initiating the connection? That actually just made me all the more confused and paranoid about the whole thing. I use a Bluetooth dongle, but I figured it was acting as a central device as expected.
I think i'm still confused on how you came to know the device was trying to connect to you :D Was there a Windows notification? Did it ask you to enter or confirm a code? Were you using bluetooth in general at the time?
I guess my main proposal is that central device can't begin to initiate to another central device. In the discovery phase, a central device is like an ear, and a peripheral device is like a mouth. Ears can't speak to other ears, and mouths can't listen to other mouths. Mouths don't know if ears are even there to listen, only the ears can initiate a connection.
In most cases Windows is like an ear. Neither a central nor peripheral can initiate a connection to you. Only you can initiate a connection to some other peripheral.
However Windows can act like a mouth under specific circumstances, specifically I found that you can use your computer as a hotspot and share over bluetooth. Sharing over bluetooth means Windows opens its bluetooth mouth to tell anyone willing to listen that it is connectable. So if you were doing something bluetooth related at the time it could have allowed a foreign (central) device to initiate a connection
50-60% of my initial attempts at connecting to something via bluetooth is my accidentally selecting the wrong device. I'd say maybe you're one of my neighbors but I definitely wasn't up at 5am.
Is it updog?