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CISA Warns of Active Exploitation Apple iOS and macOS Vulnerability

CISA Warns of Active Exploitation Apple iOS and macOS Vulnerability

Feb 01, 2024 Vulnerability / Software Update
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday  added  a high-severity flaw impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as  CVE-2022-48618  (CVSS score: 7.8), concerns a bug in the kernel component. "An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass  Pointer Authentication ," Apple said in an advisory, adding the issue "may have been exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1." The iPhone maker said the problem was addressed with improved checks. It's currently not known how the vulnerability is being weaponized in real-world attacks. Interestingly, patches for the flaw were released on December 13, 2022, with the release of  iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 ,  macOS Ventura 13.1 ,  tvOS 16.2 , and  watchOS 9.2 , although it was only publicly disclosed more than a yea
Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws

Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws

Dec 12, 2023 Zero Day / Vulnerability
Apple on Monday released  security patches  for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari web browser to address multiple security flaws, in addition to backporting fixes for two recently disclosed zero-days to older devices. This includes updates for  12 security vulnerabilities  in iOS and iPadOS spanning AVEVideoEncoder, ExtensionKit, Find My, ImageIO, Kernel, Safari Private Browsing, and WebKit.  macOS Sonoma 14.2 , for its part, resolves 39 shortcomings, counting six bugs impacting the  ncurses library . Notable among the flaws is  CVE-2023-45866 , a critical security issue in Bluetooth that could allow an attacker in a privileged network position to inject keystrokes by spoofing a keyboard. The vulnerability was disclosed by SkySafe security researcher Marc Newlin last week. It has been remediated in iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, and macOS Sonoma 14.2 with improved checks, the iPhone maker said. Also released by Apple is  Safari 17.2 , containing fixes for two WebKit flaws – C
How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

Mar 06, 2024Data Security / Cloud Security
Every Google Workspace administrator knows how quickly Google Drive becomes a messy sprawl of loosely shared confidential information. This isn't anyone's fault; it's inevitable as your productivity suite is purposefully designed to enable real-time collaboration – both internally and externally.  For Security & Risk Management teams, the untenable risk of any Google Drive footprint lies in the toxic combinations of sensitive data, excessive permissions, and improper sharing. However, it can be challenging to differentiate between typical business practices and potential risks without fully understanding the context and intent.  Material Security, a company renowned for its innovative method of protecting sensitive data within employee mailboxes, has recently launched  Data Protection for Google Drive  to safeguard the sprawl of confidential information scattered throughout Google Drive with a powerful discovery and remediation toolkit. How Material Security helps organ
New 5G Modem Flaws Affect iOS Devices and Android Models from Major Brands

New 5G Modem Flaws Affect iOS Devices and Android Models from Major Brands

Dec 08, 2023 Vulnerability / Mobile Network
A collection of security flaws in the firmware implementation of 5G mobile network modems from major chipset vendors such as MediaTek and Qualcomm impact USB and IoT modems as well as hundreds of smartphone models running Android and iOS. Of the 14 flaws – collectively called  5Ghoul  (a combination of "5G" and "Ghoul") – 10 affect 5G modems from the two companies, out of which three have been classified as high-severity vulnerabilities. "5Ghoul vulnerabilities may be exploited to continuously launch attacks to drop the connections, freeze the connection that involve manual reboot or downgrade the 5G connectivity to 4G," the researchers  said  in a study published today. As many as 714 smartphones from 24 brands are impacted, including those from Vivo, Xiaomi, OPPO, Samsung, Honor, Motorola, realme, OnePlus, Huawei, ZTE, Asus, Sony, Meizu, Nokia, Apple, and Google. The vulnerabilities were disclosed by a team of researchers from the ASSET (Automated
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New Bluetooth Flaw Let Hackers Take Over Android, Linux, macOS, and iOS Devices

New Bluetooth Flaw Let Hackers Take Over Android, Linux, macOS, and iOS Devices

Dec 07, 2023 Mobile Security / Vulnerability
A critical Bluetooth security flaw could be exploited by threat actors to take control of Android, Linux, macOS and iOS devices. Tracked as  CVE-2023-45866 , the issue relates to a case of authentication bypass that enables attackers to connect to susceptible devices and inject keystrokes to achieve code execution as the victim. "Multiple Bluetooth stacks have authentication bypass vulnerabilities that permit an attacker to connect to a discoverable host without user confirmation and inject keystrokes," said security researcher  Marc Newlin , who  disclosed  the flaws to the software vendors in August 2023. Specifically, the attack deceives the target device into thinking that it's connected to a Bluetooth keyboard by taking advantage of an "unauthenticated pairing mechanism" that's defined in the Bluetooth specification. Successful exploitation of the flaw could permit an adversary in close physical proximity to connect to a vulnerable device and trans
Researchers Link DragonEgg Android Spyware to LightSpy iOS Surveillanceware

Researchers Link DragonEgg Android Spyware to LightSpy iOS Surveillanceware

Oct 04, 2023 Mobile Security / Spyware
New findings have identified connections between an Android spyware called DragonEgg and another sophisticated modular iOS surveillanceware tool named LightSpy . DragonEgg , alongside WyrmSpy (aka AndroidControl), was  first disclosed  by Lookout in July 2023 as a strain of malware capable of gathering sensitive data from Android devices. It was attributed to the Chinese nation-state group APT41. On the other hand, details about LightSpy came to light in March 2020 as part of a campaign dubbed  Operation Poisoned News  in which Apple iPhone users in Hong Kong were targeted with watering hole attacks to install the spyware. Now, according to Dutch mobile security firm ThreatFabric, DragonEgg attack chains involve the use of a trojanized Telegram app that's designed to download a second-stage payload (smallmload.jar), which, in turn, is configured to download a third component codenamed Core. Further analysis of the artifacts has revealed that the Android variant of the implan
Apple Rushes to Patch 3 New Zero-Day Flaws: iOS, macOS, Safari, and More Vulnerable

Apple Rushes to Patch 3 New Zero-Day Flaws: iOS, macOS, Safari, and More Vulnerable

Sep 22, 2023 Zero Day / Vulnerability
Apple has released yet another round of security patches to address three actively exploited zero-day flaws impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari, taking the total tally of zero-day bugs discovered in its software this year to 16. The list of security vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2023-41991  - A certificate validation issue in the Security framework that could allow a malicious app to bypass signature validation. CVE-2023-41992  - A security flaw in Kernel that could allow a local attacker to elevate their privileges. CVE-2023-41993  - A WebKit flaw that could result in arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. Apple did not provide additional specifics barring an acknowledgement that the "issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 16.7." The updates are available for the following devices and operating systems - iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7  - iPhone 8 and later, iPad Pro (all models), iP
Apple Rolls Out Urgent Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Impacting iPhones, iPads and Macs

Apple Rolls Out Urgent Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Impacting iPhones, iPads and Macs

Jul 25, 2023 Endpoint Security / Zero Day
Apple has  rolled out security updates  to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari to address several security vulnerabilities, including one actively exploited zero-day bug in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2023-38606 , the shortcoming resides in the kernel and permits a malicious app to modify sensitive kernel state potentially. The company said it was addressed with improved state management. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1," the tech giant noted in its advisory. It's worth noting that CVE-2023-38606 is the fourth security vulnerability discovered in connection with  Operation Triangulation , a sophisticated mobile cyber espionage campaign targeting iOS devices since 2019 using a zero-click exploit chain. The other two zero-days,  CVE-2023-32434 and CVE-2023-32435 , were patched by Apple last month. A third shortcoming, CVE-2022-46690 , was addressed as part of securi
Apple Issues Urgent Patch for Zero-Day Flaw Targeting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple Issues Urgent Patch for Zero-Day Flaw Targeting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Jul 11, 2023 Zero-Day / Endpoint Security
Apple has released  Rapid Security Response  updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to  address  a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The WebKit bug, cataloged as  CVE-2023-37450 , could allow threat actors to achieve arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. The iPhone maker said it addressed the issue with improved checks. Credited with discovering and reporting the flaw is an anonymous researcher. As with most cases like this, there are scant details about the nature and the scale of the attacks and the identity of the threat actor behind them. But Apple noted in a terse advisory that it's "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited." The updates, iOS 16.5.1 (a), iPadOS 16.5.1 (a), macOS Ventura 13.4.1 (a), and Safari 16.5.2, are available for devices running the following operating system versions: iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1 macOS Ventura 13.4.1 macOS Big
Apple Releases Updates to Address Zero-Day Flaws in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple Releases Updates to Address Zero-Day Flaws in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apr 08, 2023 Zero-Day / Endpoint Security
Apple on Friday released security updates for  iOS, iPadOS ,  macOS , and  Safari web browser  to address a pair of zero-day flaws that are being exploited in the wild. The two vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-28205  - A  use after free issue  in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. CVE-2023-28206  - An  out-of-bounds write issue  in IOSurfaceAccelerator that could enable an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple said it addressed CVE-2023-28205 with improved memory management and the second with better input validation, adding it's aware the bugs "may have been actively exploited." Credited with discovering and reporting the flaws are Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Donncha Ó Cearbhaill of Amnesty International's Security Lab. Details about the two vulnerabilities have been withheld in light of active exploitation and to prevent more
3CX Desktop App Supply Chain Attack Leaves Millions at Risk - Urgent Update on the Way!

3CX Desktop App Supply Chain Attack Leaves Millions at Risk - Urgent Update on the Way!

Mar 30, 2023 Supply Chain / Software Security
3CX said it's  working on a software update  for its desktop app after multiple cybersecurity vendors sounded the alarm on what appears to be an active supply chain attack that's using digitally signed and rigged installers of the popular voice and video conferencing software to target downstream customers. "The trojanized 3CX desktop app is the first stage in a multi-stage attack chain that pulls ICO files appended with Base64 data from GitHub and ultimately leads to a third-stage infostealer DLL," SentinelOne researchers  said . The cybersecurity firm is tracking the activity under the name SmoothOperator , stating the threat actor registered a massive attack infrastructure as far back as February 2022. There are indications that the attack may have commenced around March 22, 2023. 3CX, the company behind 3CXDesktopApp,  claims  to have more than 600,000 customers and 12 million users in 190 countries, some of which include well-known names like American Expres
Patch Now: Apple's iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari Under Attack with New Zero-Day Flaw

Patch Now: Apple's iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari Under Attack with New Zero-Day Flaw

Feb 14, 2023 Device Security / Zero Day
Apple on Monday rolled out security updates for  iOS, iPadOS ,  macOS , and  Safari  to address a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2023-23529 , the issue relates to a type confusion bug in the WebKit browser engine that could be activated when processing maliciously crafted web content, culminating in arbitrary code execution. The iPhone maker said the bug was addressed with improved checks, adding it's "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited." An anonymous researcher has been credited with reporting the flaw. It's not immediately clear as to how the vulnerability is being exploited in real-world attacks, but it's the second actively abused type confusion flaw in WebKit to be patched by Apple after  CVE-2022-42856  in as many months, which was closed in December 2022.  WebKit flaws are also notable for the fact that they impact every third-party web browser that's available fo
WhatsApp Introduces Proxy Support to Help Users Bypass Internet Censorship

WhatsApp Introduces Proxy Support to Help Users Bypass Internet Censorship

Jan 06, 2023 Online Safety / Privacy
Popular instant messaging service WhatsApp has launched support for proxy servers in the latest version of its Android and iOS apps, letting users circumvent government-imposed censorship and internet shutdowns. "Choosing a proxy enables you to connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world dedicated to helping people communicate freely," the Meta-owned company  said . Proxies act as an intermediary between end users and the service provider by routing requests originating from a client to the server and forwarding the response back to the device. Users can  access the option  by navigating to Settings > Storage and Data > Proxy > Use Proxy and entering a trusted proxy server address. WhatsApp, which is used by more than two billion users across the world, has also made available a  reference implementation  that can be used to set up a proxy server to help others connect to the service. The company emphasized that
New Actively Exploited Zero-Day Vulnerability Discovered in Apple Products

New Actively Exploited Zero-Day Vulnerability Discovered in Apple Products

Dec 14, 2022 Zero-Day Vulnerability
Apple on Tuesday rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and Safari web browser to address a new zero-day vulnerability that could result in the execution of malicious code. Tracked as  CVE-2022-42856 , the issue has been described by the tech giant as a type confusion issue in the WebKit browser engine that could be triggered when processing specially crafted content, leading to arbitrary code execution. The company said it's "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1." While details surrounding the exact nature of the attacks are unknown as yet, it's likely that it involved a case of social engineering or a watering hole to infect the devices when visiting a rogue or legitimate-but-compromised domain via the browser. It's worth noting that every third-party web browser that's available for iOS and iPadOS, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edg
Apple iOS and macOS Flaw Could've Let Apps Eavesdrop on Your Conversations with Siri

Apple iOS and macOS Flaw Could've Let Apps Eavesdrop on Your Conversations with Siri

Oct 27, 2022
A now-patched security flaw in Apple's iOS and macOS operating systems could have potentially enabled apps with Bluetooth access to eavesdrop on conversations with Siri. Apple said "an app may be able to record audio using a pair of connected AirPods," adding it addressed the Core Bluetooth issue in iOS 16.1 with improved entitlements. Credited with discovering and reporting the bug in August 2022 is app developer Guilherme Rambo. The bug, dubbed  SiriSpy , has been assigned the identifier CVE-2022-32946. "Any app with access to Bluetooth could record your conversations with Siri and audio from the iOS keyboard dictation feature when using AirPods or Beats headsets," Rambo  said  in a write-up. "This would happen without the app requesting microphone access permission and without the app leaving any trace that it was listening to the microphone." The vulnerability, according to Rambo, relates to a service called DoAP that's included in AirPo
Apple Releases Patch for New Actively Exploited iOS and iPadOS Zero-Day Vulnerability

Apple Releases Patch for New Actively Exploited iOS and iPadOS Zero-Day Vulnerability

Oct 25, 2022
Tech giant Apple on Monday rolled out updates to remediate a zero-day flaw in iOS and iPadOS that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The weakness, given the identifier CVE-2022-42827 , has been described as an out-of-bounds write issue in the Kernel, which could be abused by a rogue application to execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges. Successful exploitation of out-of-bounds write flaws, which typically occur when a program attempts to write data to a memory location that's outside of the bounds of what it is allowed to access, can result in corruption of data, a crash, or execution of unauthorized code. The iPhone maker said it addressed the bug with improved bounds checking, while crediting an anonymous researcher for reporting the vulnerability. As is usually the case with actively exploited zero-day flaws, Apple refrained from sharing more specifics about the shortcoming other than acknowledging that it's "aware of a report that this i
Facebook Detects 400 Android and iOS Apps Stealing Users Log-in Credentials

Facebook Detects 400 Android and iOS Apps Stealing Users Log-in Credentials

Oct 07, 2022
Meta Platforms on Friday disclosed that it had identified over 400 malicious apps on Android and iOS that it said targeted online users with the goal of stealing their Facebook login information. "These apps were listed on the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store and disguised as photo editors, games, VPN services, business apps, and other utilities to trick people into downloading them," the social media behemoth  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. 42.6% of the rogue apps were photo editors, followed by business utilities (15.4%), phone utilities (14.1%), games (11.7%), VPNs (11.7%), and lifestyle apps (4.4%). Interestingly, a majority of the iOS apps posed as ads manager tools for Meta and its Facebook subsidiary. Besides concealing its malicious nature as a set of seemingly harmless apps, the operators of the scheme also published fake reviews that were designed to offset the negative reviews left by users who may have previously downloaded the apps
Apple Releases iOS and macOS Updates to Patch Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaw

Apple Releases iOS and macOS Updates to Patch Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaw

Sep 13, 2022
Apple has released another round of security updates to address multiple vulnerabilities in iOS and macOS, including a new zero-day flaw that has been used in attacks in the wild. The issue, assigned the identifier  CVE-2022-32917 , is rooted in the Kernel component and could enable a malicious app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited," the iPhone maker acknowledged in a brief statement, adding it resolved the bug with improved bound checks. An anonymous researcher has been credited with reporting the shortcoming. It's worth noting that CVE-2022-32917 is also the  second Kernel related zero-day flaw  that Apple has remediated in less than a month. Patches are available in versions  iOS 15.7, iPadOS 15.7 ,  iOS 16 ,  macOS Big Sur 11.7 , and  macOS Monterey 12.6 . The iOS and iPadOS updates cover iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generati
Over 1,800 Android and iOS Apps Found Leaking Hard-Coded AWS Credentials

Over 1,800 Android and iOS Apps Found Leaking Hard-Coded AWS Credentials

Sep 01, 2022
Researchers have identified 1,859 apps across Android and iOS containing hard-coded Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials, posing a major security risk. "Over three-quarters (77%) of the apps contained valid AWS access tokens allowing access to private AWS cloud services," Symantec's Threat Hunter team, a part of Broadcom Software, said in a  report  shared with The Hacker News. Interestingly, a little more than 50% of the apps were found using the same AWS tokens found in other apps maintained by other developers and companies, highlighting a supply chain issue with serious implications. "The AWS access tokens could be traced to a shared library, third-party SDK, or other shared component used in developing the apps," the researchers said. These credentials are typically used for downloading appropriate resources necessary for the app's functions as well as accessing configuration files and authenticating to other cloud services. To make matters wors
Apple Releases iOS Update for Older iPhones to Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerability

Apple Releases iOS Update for Older iPhones to Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerability

Sep 01, 2022
Apple on Wednesday backported security updates to older iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices to address a  critical security flaw  that has been actively exploited in the wild. The shortcoming, tracked as  CVE-2022-32893  (CVSS score: 8.8), is an out-of-bounds write issue affecting WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content. WebKit is the browser engine that powers Safari and every other third-party browser available on iOS and iPadOS, meaning a flaw uncovered in the platform poses a security risk to users of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge as well. The tech giant said it fixed the bug with improved bounds checking. An anonymous researcher has been credited for reporting the vulnerability. The iOS 12.5.6 update is available for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). "iOS 12 is not impacted by CVE-2022-32894," Apple  noted  in it
Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Two New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Two New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Aug 18, 2022
Apple on Wednesday released security updates for  iOS, iPadOS , and  macOS  platforms to remediate two zero-day vulnerabilities previously exploited by threat actors to compromise its devices. The list of issues is below - CVE-2022-32893  - An out-of-bounds write issue in WebKit which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code by processing a specially crafted web content CVE-2022-32894  - An out-of-bounds write issue in the operating system's Kernel that could be abused by a malicious application to execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges Apple said it addressed both the issues with improved bounds checking, adding it's aware the vulnerabilities "may have been actively exploited." The company did not disclose any additional information regarding these attacks or the identities of the threat actors perpetrating them, although it's likely that they were abused as part of highly-targeted intrusions. The latest update brings the total number o
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