Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Application Security

Apple Confirms New Zero-Day Attacks on Older iPhones

Apple on Thursday confirmed a new zero-day exploit hitting older iPhones and warned that the security vulnerability also affects the macOS Catalina platform.

Apple on Thursday confirmed a new zero-day exploit hitting older iPhones and warned that the security vulnerability also affects the macOS Catalina platform.

This is the 16th documented in-the-wild zero-day exploitation of security defects in Apple’s iOS and macOS platforms so far this year.

“Apple is aware of reports that an exploit for this issue exists in the wild,” the company said without elaborating.  No other details of IOCs (indicators of compromise) were provided.

The Cupertino, Calif. software giant credited researchers at Google with intercepting the new zero-day exploit, which affects a list of older iPhones and iPads running the out-of-support iOS 13 devices like the iPad Air, the iPad mini, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. 

[ READ: Apple Ships iOS 15 with MFA Code Generator ]

Apple dropped support for these older devices since the release of iOS 13 but security fixes are still being released.  

The security vulnerability — CVE-2021-30869 — is described as a type confusion issue in XNU, the OS kernel used by macOS and iOS.

“A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, the company said in an advisory that credited multiple bug finders with the discovery — Erye Hernandez of Google Threat Analysis Group, Clément Lecigne of Google Threat Analysis Group, and Ian Beer of Google Project Zero.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The iOS 12.5.5 patch also backports the fixes for the previously documented FORCEDENTRY zero-day exploits. 

Related: Apple Adds ‘BlastDoor’ to Secure iPhones From Zero-Click Attacks

Related: Secretive Israeli Exploit Company Behind Wave of Zero-Day Exploits

Related Apple Ships Urgent Patch for FORCEDENTRY Zero-Days

Written By

Ryan Naraine is Editor-at-Large at SecurityWeek and host of the popular Security Conversations podcast series. He is a security community engagement expert who has built programs at major global brands, including Intel Corp., Bishop Fox and GReAT. Ryan is a founding-director of the Security Tinkerers non-profit, an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, and a regular speaker at security conferences around the world.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Discover strategies for vendor selection, integration to minimize redundancies, and maximizing ROI from your cybersecurity investments. Gain actionable insights to ensure your stack is ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

Register

Dive into critical topics such as incident response, threat intelligence, and attack surface management. Learn how to align cyber resilience plans with business objectives to reduce potential impacts and secure your organization in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Register

People on the Move

Gigamon has promoted Tony Jarjoura to CFO and Ram Bhide has been hired as Senior VP of engineering.

Cloud security firm Mitiga has appointed Charlie Thomas as Chief Executive Officer.

Cynet announced the appointment of Jason Magee as Chief Executive Officer.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.