Google revealed how watering hole attacks compromised iPhone devices earlier this year
Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →
| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Flags | Affected | Exposure | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2019-7286 | Out-of-Bounds Write Local Privilege Escalation in Apple iOS and macOS CVE-2019-7286 is a memory corruption flaw (an out-of-bounds write, CWE-787) in Apple's iOS and macOS that Apple addressed with improved input validation. It is triggered locally: the CVSS vector shows a local attack vector requiring user interaction, and an application that corrupts memory through the flaw may gain elevated privileges with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Users running iPhones or iPads on iOS before 12.1.4, or macOS Mojave systems without the 10.14.3 Supplemental Update, are affected. The vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-05-23), which indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild, and EPSS assigns it a 15.6% probability of exploitation within 30 days (97th percentile). No public proof-of-concept is catalogued, but defenders should treat it as actively exploited. Do: Update all iPhones and iPads to iOS 12.1.4 or later and apply the macOS Mojave 10.14.3 Supplemental Update (or a later macOS release) on Macs, per the CISA KEV required action. Inventory for devices that cannot run the fixed versions, restrict untrusted applications on them or retire them, since the flaw allows local apps to gain elevated privileges. Given the KEV listing, treat this as an actively exploited vulnerability and prioritize patching in any KEV-driven remediation program. | 7.8 | 16% | KEV |
| masshundreds of millions of Apple devices affected at the time of disclosure; current count of unpatched legacy devices unknown | |
| CVE-2019-7287 | Out-of-Bounds Write in Apple iOS Allows Kernel-Privilege Code Execution Apple iOS versions prior to 12.1.4 contain a memory corruption flaw — an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) — which Apple fixed with improved input validation in iOS 12.1.4. Based on the flaw's CVSS scoring (local attack vector, user interaction required), it is triggered when a user opens or runs a malicious application on the device. A successful exploit lets that application execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, giving the attacker full device control and access to all data on the phone. All Apple iPhones (iPhone OS) running iOS versions before 12.1.4 are affected. The vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-05-23), confirming known in-the-wild exploitation; EPSS currently assigns a 4.6% probability of exploitation activity within 30 days (91st percentile), no public proof-of-concept is cataloged, and ransomware use is unknown. Do: Apply Apple's update without delay, per CISA KEV's required action: update all iPhones and iOS devices to iOS 12.1.4 or later. Inventory your fleet for devices still running iOS 12.1.3 or earlier and prioritize patching them; on unpatched legacy devices, avoid opening untrusted applications until updated. Where hardware allows, move older devices off iOS 12 to a currently supported iOS release. | 7.8 | 5% | KEV |
| mass≈hundreds of millions of iPhone devices at time of disclosure (early 2019) |
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Google researchers discovered that iPhone devices could be hacked by tricking owners into visiting specially crafted websites.
Researchers at Google Project Zero discovered that it was possible to hack iPhone devices by visiting specially crafted websites.
Earlier this year, Google Threat Analysis Group (TAG) experts uncovered an iPhone hacking campaign, initially, they spotted a limited number of hacked websites used in watering hole attacks against iPhone users.
“Earlier this year Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) discovered a small collection of hacked websites. The hacked sites were being used in indiscriminate watering hole attacks against their visitors, using iPhone 0-day.” reads the report published by Google.
“There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant. We estimate that these sites receive thousands of visitors per week.”
Threat actors used at least five unique iPhone exploit chains that allowed them to remotely jailbreak a device and deliver spyware. The attackers targeted devices running from iOS 10 through to iOS 12.
The chains of exploits were exploiting 14 different vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS. 7 vulnerabilities were affecting the Safari web browser, 5 vulnerabilities the iOS kernel and 2 issues were sandbox escape flaws.
The Project Zero researcher Ian Beer explained that only two of the 14 security flaws were zero-days, CVE-2019-7287 and CVE-2019-7286, he also revealed that the campaign remained under the radar for at least two years.
In February researchers at Google revealed that two of the zero-day flaws addressed by Apple with the release of iOS 12.1.4 were exploited in the wild.
Project Zero Team Lead Ben Hawkes revealed that both CVE-2019-7286 and CVE-2019-7287 have been exploited in the wild. Google experts did not reveal technical details on the attacks they observed in the wild.
Apple iOS 12.1.4 version addressed four vulnerabilities, two issues associated with the FaceTime bug and two memory corruption flaws that could be exploited by attackers to elevate privileges and execute arbitrary code.
The CVE-2019-7287 vulnerability affected the IOKit and it can be exploited by a malicious app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
The CVE-2019-7286 vulnerability impacted the Foundation component in iOS, it could allow a malicious application to gain elevated privileges.
Now Beer revealed that his team reported the above issues to Apple, giving the tech giant a 7-day deadline to address them.
“We reported these issues to Apple with a 7-day deadline on 1 Feb 2019, which resulted in the out-of-band release of iOS 12.1.4 on 7 Feb 2019. We also shared the complete details with Apple, which were disclosed publicly on 7 Feb 2019,” Beer says.
The spyware implant was also able to steal the database files from popular end-to-end encryption apps like Whatsapp, Telegram, and iMessage.
Beer explained that the victims were infected with a spyware by simply visiting the hacked websites with a vulnerable version of Safari web browser. This triggered WebKit exploits for each exploit chain in an attempt to compromise the iOS device and to gain root access by exploiting the privilege escalation issues.
The implant used in the attacks was designed to steal private data, including photos and GPS location in real-time, it was also able to access device’s keychain data (i.e. credentials, authentication tokens, and certificates).
“The implant has access to all the database files (on the victim’s phone) used by popular end-to-end encryption apps like Whatsapp, Telegram and iMessage.” wrote Beer. “We can see here screenshots of the apps on the left, and on the right the contents of the database files stolen by the implant which contain the unencrypted, plain-text of the messages sent and received using the apps”
The researchers pointed out that the spyware has no persistence on the infected device, it would be automatically removed upon rebooting leaving no trace of its presence.
Beer published technical details of the exploit chains and of the implant used in the attack:
- iOS Exploit Chain #1
- iOS Exploit Chain #2
- iOS Exploit Chain #3
- iOS Exploit Chain #4
- iOS Exploit Chain #5
- JSC Exploits
- Implant Teardown
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