Phillips Hue Lightbulb Vulnerability Patched

Make sure to update your firmware

by
Rob LeFebvre
Rob LeFebvre
Senior News Editor
Rob LeFebvre has been a freelance technology writer for 10 years and an educator for 20. His articles have appeared in 148Apps, Cult of Mac, Engadget, and many others.
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Rob LeFebvre
Published February 5, 2020
Updated February 5, 2020 12:41PM EST

What: Phillips patched a long-standing vulnerability for it's Hue smart lightbulbs.

How: Firmware for the Hub should have been patched automatically.

Why Do You Care: If you use Phillips Hue lightbulbs and the Hue Hub, you'll want to make sure it's updated to the latest version.

iPhone with Phillips Hue App Store screen
Original Image: Unsplash

Our smart homes are only as secure as the companies that make them and keep our smart gadgets updated.

Phillips patched its Hue Hub firmware on Wednesday, addressing a long-standing vulnerability that security researchers at Check Point Software discovered and reported to Phillips a few weeks back.

The vulnerability let hackers connect to Phillips Hue smart lightbulbs and, in addition to being able to change color and brightness, could install malicious firmware that would allow them to connect to your home network if the bulb was deleted and re-installed on the network via Hue Hub.

Your Hue's own firmware should already have been automatically updated if your Hub is connected to the internet. You can check the Phillips Hue app on your smartphone to make sure it has been updated, as well.

According to Engadget, any Hue bulbs made after 2018 do not contain the vulnerability, but it's probably good to check your app for firmware updates nonetheless.

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