Frustrated dev drops three zero-day vulns affecting Apple iOS 15 after six-month wait
(2021/09/24)
- Reference: 1632512589
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/24/apple_zeroday/
- Source link:
Upset with Apple's handling of its Security Bounty program, a bug researcher has released proof-of-concept exploit code for three zero-day vulnerabilities in Apple's newly released iOS 15 mobile operating system.
The bug hunter, posting on Thursday to Russia-based IT blog [1]Habr under the name "IllusionOfChaos" and [2]to Twitter under the same moniker, expressed frustration with Apple's handling of vulnerability reports.
"I've reported four 0-day vulnerabilities this year between March 10 and May 4, as of now three of them are still present in the latest iOS version (15.0) and one was fixed in 14.7, but Apple decided to cover it up and not list it on the [3]security content page ," the researcher wrote.
[4]
"When I confronted them, they apologized, assured me it happened due to a processing issue and promised to list it on the security content page of the next update. There were three releases since then and they broke their promise each time."
[5]
[6]
The researcher added that the vulnerability dump conforms with responsible disclosure practices, noting that Apple was informed and has done nothing.
Apple on Thursday issued [7]a patch for macOS Catalina to address a different zero-day, having gone through a similar exercise ten days earlier [8]to address a zero-click iMessage bug used to target human rights activists and other flaws.
[9]
The three unpatched iOS flaws include:
[10]Gamed 0-day , which provides access to sensitive data such as Apple ID email address, full name, the associated Apple ID authentication token, read access to a shared contacts database, the speed dial database, and the Address Book.
[11]Nehelper Enumerate Installed Apps 0-day , which allows any user-installed app to determine whether any other app is installed.
[12]Nehelper Wifi Info 0-day , which allows an app with location access permission to use WiFi without the required entitlement.
The fixed flaw, [13]Analyticsd , allowed a user-installed app to gain access to a shared set of analytics logs that contain medical data, device usage information, device accessory data, crash data, and language settings for viewed web pages.
[14]Apple warns of arbitrary code execution zero-day being actively exploited on Macs
[15]Break out your emergency change process and patch this ransomware-friendly bug ASAP, says VMware
[16]Yes, of course there's now malware for Windows Subsystem for Linux
[17]Microsoft's end-of-summer software security cleanse crushes more than 80 bugs
"IllusionOfChaos" said the collection of this data shows the hypocrisy of Apple's claims to care about privacy. "All this data was being collected and available to an attacker even if 'Share analytics' was turned off in settings," the researcher said.
Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer behind the Apple Watch keyboard app FlickType (who earlier this year [18]sued Apple for App Store market abuse ), said via Twitter that he tested the Gamed 0-day on iOS 14.8 and iOS 15 and [19]confirmed that it works as advertised.
"The bugs are neat, but unlikely to be widely exploited," security researcher Patrick Wardle, founder of free security project [20]Objective See and director of research at security biz Synack, told The Register . "Any app that attempted to (ab)use them would need to first be approved by Apple, via the iOS app Store."
"To me, the bigger takeaway is that Apple is shipping iOS with known bugs," Wardle said, noting that "IllusionOfChaos" claims to have reported the bugs months ago. "And that security researchers are so frustrated by the Apple Bug Bounty program they are literally giving up on it, turning down (potential) money, to post free bugs online."
[21]
Wardle said he considered the researcher's critique of Apple's Security Bounty program to be fair.
"It's not that Apple doesn't have resources or money to fix this," he said. "Clearly it's just not a priority to them. "IMHO, the underlying reason is Apple's hubris gets in the way. They (still) don't see security researchers or white-hat hackers as being on the same side."
"Apple's internal security team gets it, but at the higher up, cultural level, they've all drunk the Apple juice, and believe their way is the right way, and they don't need any external help."
While some developers have found Apple's Security Bounty program [22]rewarding , others share the frustration expressed by "IllusionOfChaos." In July, 2020, Jeff Johnson, who runs app biz Lapcat Software, [23]went public with a privacy bypass vulnerability because Apple failed to fix the bug he had reported. At the time, he told The Register , "Talking to Apple Product Security is like talking to a brick wall."
The Register asked Apple to comment, but the brick wall did not respond. ®
Get our [24]Tech Resources
[1] https://habr.com/en/post/579714/
[2] https://twitter.com/illusionofcha0s/status/1441185688385253388?s=20
[3] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212601
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/apple_zero_day/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/apple_ios_macos_security_fixes/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-gamed-0day
[11] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-nehelper-enum-apps-0day
[12] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-nehelper-wifi-info-0day
[13] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-analyticsd-pre14.7-exploit
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/apple_zero_day/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/vmware_emergency_vcenter_patch_recommendation/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/windows_subsystem_for_linux_malware/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/15/microsoft_patch_tuesday/
[18] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/18/apple-flicktype-lawsuit-fraud/
[19] https://twitter.com/keleftheriou/status/1441258865996156931?s=20
[20] https://objective-see.com/
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/01/flaw_apple_sso/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/01/apple_macos_privacy_bypass/
[24] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The bug hunter, posting on Thursday to Russia-based IT blog [1]Habr under the name "IllusionOfChaos" and [2]to Twitter under the same moniker, expressed frustration with Apple's handling of vulnerability reports.
"I've reported four 0-day vulnerabilities this year between March 10 and May 4, as of now three of them are still present in the latest iOS version (15.0) and one was fixed in 14.7, but Apple decided to cover it up and not list it on the [3]security content page ," the researcher wrote.
[4]
"When I confronted them, they apologized, assured me it happened due to a processing issue and promised to list it on the security content page of the next update. There were three releases since then and they broke their promise each time."
[5]
[6]
The researcher added that the vulnerability dump conforms with responsible disclosure practices, noting that Apple was informed and has done nothing.
Apple on Thursday issued [7]a patch for macOS Catalina to address a different zero-day, having gone through a similar exercise ten days earlier [8]to address a zero-click iMessage bug used to target human rights activists and other flaws.
[9]
The three unpatched iOS flaws include:
[10]Gamed 0-day , which provides access to sensitive data such as Apple ID email address, full name, the associated Apple ID authentication token, read access to a shared contacts database, the speed dial database, and the Address Book.
[11]Nehelper Enumerate Installed Apps 0-day , which allows any user-installed app to determine whether any other app is installed.
[12]Nehelper Wifi Info 0-day , which allows an app with location access permission to use WiFi without the required entitlement.
The fixed flaw, [13]Analyticsd , allowed a user-installed app to gain access to a shared set of analytics logs that contain medical data, device usage information, device accessory data, crash data, and language settings for viewed web pages.
[14]Apple warns of arbitrary code execution zero-day being actively exploited on Macs
[15]Break out your emergency change process and patch this ransomware-friendly bug ASAP, says VMware
[16]Yes, of course there's now malware for Windows Subsystem for Linux
[17]Microsoft's end-of-summer software security cleanse crushes more than 80 bugs
"IllusionOfChaos" said the collection of this data shows the hypocrisy of Apple's claims to care about privacy. "All this data was being collected and available to an attacker even if 'Share analytics' was turned off in settings," the researcher said.
Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer behind the Apple Watch keyboard app FlickType (who earlier this year [18]sued Apple for App Store market abuse ), said via Twitter that he tested the Gamed 0-day on iOS 14.8 and iOS 15 and [19]confirmed that it works as advertised.
"The bugs are neat, but unlikely to be widely exploited," security researcher Patrick Wardle, founder of free security project [20]Objective See and director of research at security biz Synack, told The Register . "Any app that attempted to (ab)use them would need to first be approved by Apple, via the iOS app Store."
"To me, the bigger takeaway is that Apple is shipping iOS with known bugs," Wardle said, noting that "IllusionOfChaos" claims to have reported the bugs months ago. "And that security researchers are so frustrated by the Apple Bug Bounty program they are literally giving up on it, turning down (potential) money, to post free bugs online."
[21]
Wardle said he considered the researcher's critique of Apple's Security Bounty program to be fair.
"It's not that Apple doesn't have resources or money to fix this," he said. "Clearly it's just not a priority to them. "IMHO, the underlying reason is Apple's hubris gets in the way. They (still) don't see security researchers or white-hat hackers as being on the same side."
"Apple's internal security team gets it, but at the higher up, cultural level, they've all drunk the Apple juice, and believe their way is the right way, and they don't need any external help."
While some developers have found Apple's Security Bounty program [22]rewarding , others share the frustration expressed by "IllusionOfChaos." In July, 2020, Jeff Johnson, who runs app biz Lapcat Software, [23]went public with a privacy bypass vulnerability because Apple failed to fix the bug he had reported. At the time, he told The Register , "Talking to Apple Product Security is like talking to a brick wall."
The Register asked Apple to comment, but the brick wall did not respond. ®
Get our [24]Tech Resources
[1] https://habr.com/en/post/579714/
[2] https://twitter.com/illusionofcha0s/status/1441185688385253388?s=20
[3] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212601
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/apple_zero_day/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/apple_ios_macos_security_fixes/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-gamed-0day
[11] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-nehelper-enum-apps-0day
[12] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-nehelper-wifi-info-0day
[13] https://github.com/illusionofchaos/ios-analyticsd-pre14.7-exploit
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/apple_zero_day/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/vmware_emergency_vcenter_patch_recommendation/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/windows_subsystem_for_linux_malware/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/15/microsoft_patch_tuesday/
[18] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/18/apple-flicktype-lawsuit-fraud/
[19] https://twitter.com/keleftheriou/status/1441258865996156931?s=20
[20] https://objective-see.com/
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YU5KqK3z@62NK9U8YYJfyQAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/01/flaw_apple_sso/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/01/apple_macos_privacy_bypass/
[24] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Mitigation?
tip pc
"The bugs are neat, but unlikely to be widely exploited," security researcher Patrick Wardle, founder of free security project Objective See and director of research at security biz Synack, told The Register. "Any app that attempted to (ab)use them would need to first be approved by Apple, via the iOS app Store."
Bug is present but not readily exploitable.
Just maybe it’s lower on their priority list?
More people are likely pissed about the intentional snooping than a potential issue if some rogue app dev decides to intentionally exploit a bug that gets through apples approval process.
From the article:
"Apple's internal security team gets it, but at the higher up, cultural level, they've all drunk the Apple juice, and believe their way is the right way, and they don't need any external help."
Well, at the higher up cultural level, they're $trillion right.
Ordinarily I'd caveat that by saying that the higher up level was running a high risk, because they're only one very serious bug away from the entire empire falling down. However, things are so weird these days that I'm not convinced that even a major security bug leaking everyone's data and costing all Apply Pay users a ton of cash would do any actual net damage. What Apple's higher, cultural level is learning is that their customers really don't give a damn.
They done this kind of thing before of course; the very first iPhone came out with < 1 day battery life, in amongst a sea of what we'd now call "feature" phones that all had 2 weeks of battery life. Did anyone care that their phone now no longer stayed charged up? Nope. And then there was the iPhone 4, holding-it-wrong gate, and other foul ups where iPhones were incapable of roaming between cells on the same phone network. Did anyone care about any of that? Nope.
And that attitude then bleeds over into Android too. If Android is a bit shonky in some area or other, it's not like switching to Apple is going to give you a shonk-free ownership experience.
About the only thing I can think of that'd now bring down the Apple edifice is a "Ratner" moment, but even then I'd not bet on it.