2018-08-R1: the DEFCON release

Ubertooth 2018-08-R1 - the DEFCON release

Just in time for DEFCON 26, we're excited to share with you Ubertooth 2018-08-R1.
Read on for the details of this awesome, feature-packed release.

The Ubertooth host utilities in this release require libbtbb-2018-08-R1
(https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/libbtbb/releases/tag/2018-08-R1) or
greater.

Changes

New LE sniffing engine - The BLE sniffing engine has been completely
rewritten using interrupts to drive an event-based core. The new
sniffing engine is considerably more robust than previous versions and
should have a higher packet capture rate. This code has received less
testing than previous versions, but in the experience of the author has
been exceptionally stable and is superior to previous versions in almost
every way.

Partial channel map support - As part of the new BLE sniffing
engine, there is now support for partial channel maps when an LE
connection is established as well as support for the Channel Map Update
Link Layer Procedure. This allows capturing connections from virtually
all modern BLE devices.

Connection update support - Support for Connection Update Link Layer
Procedure has been reimplemented as of this update. This was a feature
degradation in 2018-06-R1 but has been fixed.

Improved filtering - LE filtering now applies to all advertising
packets, not just connections. Packets that do not match the filter are
silently dropped. Filters can include a CIDR-style netmask, allowing as
few as 1 or as many as 48 bits to be included in the BD ADDR filter.

No-follow mode - In LE, it is now a first-class operation to only
log advertising packets (inhibit connection following). The previous
mechanism of using a filter of 00:00:00:00:00:00 is no longer
functional, and this new feature should be used instead.

USB API version - As with the previous release, we are using USB API
versioning to improve the experience of failures due to mismatched
firmware and host code. As of this release, the USB API has been bumped
to 1.05. If the Ubertooth tools complain that your firmware is out of
date, please update your firmware. Updating firmware is simple and
reliable, please follow the instructions on the wiki
https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/ubertooth/wiki/Firmware
A release archive with precompiled firmware is available from
https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/ubertooth/releases/download/2018-08-R1/ubertooth-2018-08-R1.tar.xz

Support

Build instructions are available from the wiki
https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/ubertooth/wiki/Build-Guide

As always, support is available via the Ubertooth-general mailing list or IRC.
Issues can also be reported via the GitHub issue tracker and pull requests are
always welcome.