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“39C3: Hacking Washing Machines” is a real Hardware-track talk—not a report of a mass remote attack. Presented at the 39th Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg on December 27, 2025, the talk shows how researchers studied Miele and B/S/H appliances through diagnostic interfaces, internal communication buses, firmware analysis, and home-automation integration.
The official recording features Severin von Wnuck-Lipinski and Hajo Noerenberg and runs for approximately 56 minutes.
What happened at 39C3?
39C3 refers to the 39th Chaos Communication Congress, held in Hamburg from December 27 to 30, 2025. The washing-machine presentation was scheduled for December 27 at 21:45 in the Hardware One track. The official schedule entry lists Severin von Wnuck-Lipinski and Hajo Noerenberg as the speakers.
The word “hacking” here means reverse engineering: discovering undocumented interfaces, observing communications between electronic modules, studying firmware, and building alternative automation paths. It does not mean that the researchers demonstrated an internet worm or a universal method for taking over strangers’ washing machines.
The headline demonstration: a Miele washer and Siemens software
The most eye-catching part of the coverage was a Miele washing machine being controlled through Siemens’ web application. As Hackaday reports, this was a researcher-created integration that combined work on the Miele appliance with B/S/H software infrastructure.
That does not mean Miele and Siemens officially support one another, nor that every machine from either brand can be controlled this way. Miele is a separate manufacturer, while Siemens is an appliance brand associated with BSH Hausgeräte, commonly styled BSH or B/S/H. The demonstration is interesting precisely because it crosses otherwise separate appliance ecosystems.
The Miele diagnostic interface
One strand of the project examined a proprietary Miele Diagnostic Interface. The reported integration could be carried out without opening the appliance, making it substantially less invasive than connecting directly to internal electronics.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchA diagnostic interface can expose useful information such as machine state, errors, cycle progress, or service data. Depending on the model and software, it may also provide selected control functions. The important qualification is that support is not universal: exact capabilities depend on the appliance model, production generation, firmware, region, and available software.
The available coverage does not establish a model-independent set of commands, API endpoints, authentication steps, or supported machines. Owners should therefore treat the Miele work as a technical demonstration rather than a plug-and-play installation guide.
Inside B/S/H appliances: internal D-Bus communication
The deeper hardware work examined internal D-Bus communication in B/S/H appliances. At a high level, this is a message-passing system through which electronic modules exchange information about states and commands.
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That internal bus is not necessarily equivalent to the standard D-Bus interface familiar from desktop Linux. The available summaries establish that the talk discusses internal D-Bus communication, but they do not verify the exact electrical layer, signal levels, addressing, message format, checksum scheme, or command vocabulary. Those details must be taken from the presentation or accompanying technical documentation for the specific appliance.
Reverse engineering such a bus typically involves correlating captured messages with controlled physical events: selecting a cycle, opening or closing a door, changing a setting, or observing a fault. A message that appears when a button is pressed is not automatically a safe command. It may be a request, response, broadcast, status update, or part of a sequence that only makes sense in a particular machine state.
Where the ESP32 fits
Hackaday reports that the presentation includes an ESP32 connected to an appliance bus and linked to a home-automation system. In this arrangement, the ESP32 is a bridge or controller. It is not a universal washing-machine hacking device.
A safe interface may require suitable transceivers, voltage-level protection, electrical isolation, current limiting, and appliance-specific firmware. None of the supplied sources verify the exact ESP32 board, wiring, pinout, protection circuit, or firmware used in the demonstration. Connecting a development board directly to an unknown appliance bus can damage both systems.
Firmware and security protections
The official talk description covers decompiling and modifying firmware, understanding appliance functionality, and studying protections around diagnostic access and firmware readout. It also describes bypassing protections to enable deeper analysis. See the official talk page for the source description and downloadable video, audio, and subtitles.
This should be understood as reverse-engineering research, not as evidence of a universal remote vulnerability. The supplied sources do not identify a CVE, a named bootloader exploit, a particular cryptographic failure, or a confirmed attack affecting all Miele or B/S/H machines.
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Firmware modification is especially consequential because appliance software controls motors, heaters, pumps, valves, sensors, and interlocks. A firmware image is not safely reversible unless the owner has a verified backup and a model-specific recovery method.
Cloud control versus cloudless automation
The talk covers two related but distinct ideas:
- App-level integration: the Miele washer and Siemens web application demonstration shows cross-ecosystem control through software services.
- Local or internal integration: diagnostic and bus research aims to bring appliance data and control into home automation without depending entirely on a manufacturer’s cloud.
These should not be conflated. A web-app route may depend on accounts, remote services, authentication, or undocumented compatibility. A local bus bridge may avoid cloud dependency but requires more hardware knowledge, maintenance, and model-specific work.
Cloud-independent control can improve privacy, reduce dependence on vendor service availability, and make automations more durable. It can also break after firmware changes, replacement control boards, or appliance servicing.
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There is no responsible universal yes-or-no answer. Reproduction depends on the exact appliance and the reader’s skills.
| Project layer | Portability |
|---|---|
| General reverse-engineering methods | High |
| Appliance-bus concepts | Medium |
| B/S/H family techniques | Model-dependent |
| Exact wiring and commands | Low without matching hardware |
| Miele diagnostic integration | Model- and software-dependent |
| Consumer-ready installation | Not established by the available sources |
Lower-risk starting point: external integration
For readers interested mainly in monitoring or automation, the least invasive route is to determine whether the exact Miele appliance supports the relevant diagnostic or network interface, then begin with read-only state reporting. Test status data before attempting any commands, retain normal manufacturer controls, and confirm that the integration still works after service or firmware changes.
Advantages include no appliance disassembly, easier rollback, and lower electrical risk. The trade-offs are limited model support, possible cloud or authentication dependence, and fewer available controls.
Higher-risk route: internal bus research
Internal investigation requires identifying the control boards, locating the relevant bus, determining its electrical characteristics, capturing traffic during known actions, and mapping messages to states or commands. An electrically safe bridge may then be used for controlled experiments.
This route is appropriate only for people experienced with electronics, embedded systems, protocol analysis, and mains-powered equipment. Opening the machine may affect warranty coverage and can complicate later servicing.
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Washing machines are not ordinary low-voltage maker projects. They combine mains electricity, capacitors, motors, heaters, water, pumps, rotating parts, and safety interlocks.
- Disconnect power before changing wiring or attaching probes.
- Never probe energized appliance electronics unless properly qualified and equipped.
- Do not bypass door locks, water-level sensors, thermal protection, motor protection, or other safety systems.
- Keep complete backups of original firmware and configuration before any modification.
- Test only with the machine empty, supervised, and stopped immediately if its behavior becomes unpredictable.
- Use a qualified appliance technician for mains-side faults, damaged wiring, or unexplained heating, motor, water, or locking behavior.
Reading telemetry is materially safer than issuing commands. Starting or stopping a cycle, changing heating or water behavior, controlling motors, and modifying firmware should never be treated as equivalent activities.
Why this matters beyond washing machines
The significance of the 39C3 talk is broader than laundry. Dishwashers, dryers, coffee machines, ovens, and other appliances also contain layered embedded systems: sensors and actuators, control boards, proprietary diagnostics, firmware protections, and network services.
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The exact protocols may not transfer between products, but the methods do. Researchers can learn how to identify interfaces, correlate messages with physical behavior, distinguish state from control traffic, and build local bridges without assuming that a brand label reveals the underlying design.
That work also raises practical questions about repairability, interoperability, privacy, long-term support, and who controls the data produced by household equipment. The most useful outcome is not a claim that every washing machine is vulnerable. It is a clearer understanding of how ordinary appliances became networked embedded computers—and how difficult it can be to own and automate them independently.
Watch the full presentation
The official media.ccc.de page provides the recording along with audio and subtitle downloads. It also identifies the talk’s Creative Commons licensing. The CCC Fahrplan entry provides the original schedule and speaker information.
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