This article explains how Tesla's passive entry feature is vulnerable to thieves who use relay attacks.
Tesla's system offers car owners passive entry by using a mobile phone key fob instead of a traditional key fob.
It offers the Tesla Mobile App which can be used to locate car owners and open the vehicle without touching a key.
However, thieves are able to use relay attacks to fool the entry system and gain access to the vehicle.
Other brands of vehicles are also vulnerable to these types of attacks, but they do not offer passive entry like Teslas system does.
Model 3 owners should expect this vulnerability in their cars, as thieves can redirect communications between their phones and vehicles in order to fool the entry system.
Tesla's Passive Entry system prevents Bluetooth relay attacks by requiring the key fob to be nearby to unlock the car.
The key fob transmits a low energy signal, which is difficult to replicate and lies outside of the range of most Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Therefore, this technology has rendered the traditional lock-and-key approach obsolete.
This also allows drivers to operate their cars without needing a physical key or app key fob.