Files
arnulfrupp 928c78a01b [tcat] implement rate limitation for TCAT TLVs 0x10, 0x11 and 0x12 and remove TLV 0x14 (#12211)
This commit implements rate limitation for the TCAT commands Present
PSKd Hash TLV (0x10), Present PSKc Hash TLV (0x11) and Present
Install-code Hash TLV (0x12) to prevent password guessing attacks.

It also removes the TCAT command Request PSKd Hash TLV (0x14), to
prevent offline password guessing attacks with a single Hash value
retrieved from the device.

Note: The commit does not remove the Request PSKd Hash TLV
implementation in the Python commissioner such that the non-existence
of the command TLV can still be tested.
2026-05-04 07:10:19 -07:00
..

TCAT Commissioner (BBTC) Client

Overview

This is a Python implementation of a Bluetooth-Based Thread Commissioning (BBTC) client, based on Thread's TCAT (Thread Commissioning over Authenticated TLS) functionality.

Installation

If you don't have the poetry module installed (check with poetry --version), install it first following the official installation instructions.

For example, if pipx is available:

pipx install poetry

If pipx is not available, it can be installed for Linux/Windows/MacOS following the pipx installation instructions.

Then, install this project using Poetry:

poetry install

This will install all the required modules to a virtual environment, which can be used by calling poetry run <COMMAND> from the project directory.

Note: Installation on Windows requires that Build Tools for Visual Studio C/C++ be installed first.

Usage

To see the supported commandline arguments of BBTC client, use:

poetry run python3 bbtc.py --help

In order to connect to a TCAT device, run:

poetry run python3 bbtc.py {<device specifier> | --scan}

where <device specifier> can be:

  • --name <NAME> - name advertised by the device
  • --mac <ADDRESS> - physical address of the device's Bluetooth interface

Using the --scan option will scan for every TCAT device and display them in a list, to allow selection of the target.

For example:

poetry run python3 bbtc.py --name 'Thread BLE'

The application will connect to the first matching device discovered and set up a secure TLS channel. The user is then presented with the CLI.

Usage with a specific TCAT Commissioner identity

The TCAT Commissioner's certificate specifies what permissions it has obtained for specific features of managing a TCAT Device. By default, the identity in the auth directory is used. In order to use a different TCAT Commissioner certificate (identity), use the --cert_path argument, as follows:

poetry run python3 bbtc.py --cert_path <certs-path> {<device specifier> | --scan}

where <certs-path> is the directory where the private key, certificate, and CA certificate(s) of the TCAT Commissioner are stored.

For example to use a pre-configured identity CommCert2 (related to Thread certification tests):

poetry run python3 bbtc.py --cert_path ./auth-cert/CommCert2 --name 'Thread BLE'

The auth-cert directory contains some other identities too, for testing purposes. Refer to Thread TCAT test plan documents for details.

See GENERATING_CERTIFICATES.md for details on generating own certificates.

TCAT Commissioner CLI Commands

The application supports the following interactive CLI commands:

  • help - Display available commands.
  • commission - Commission the device with current dataset.
  • thread start - Enable Thread interface.
  • thread stop - Disable Thread interface.
  • hello - Send "hello world" application data and read the response.
  • exit - Close the connection and exit.
  • dataset - View and manipulate current dataset. Use dataset help for more information.