Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Vulnerabilities

Apple Patch Day: Gaping Security Holes in iOS, macOS, iPadOS

Apple on Monday released fixes for at least 39 security defects in its flagship iOS/iPadOS platform, warning that the most serious of the flaws could expose users to remote code execution attacks.

Apple on Monday released fixes for at least 39 security defects in its flagship iOS/iPadOS platform, warning that the most serious of the flaws could expose users to remote code execution attacks.

In addition to the mobile OS security makeovers, Apple released software updates to address security vulnerabilities in macOS (Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey included), tvOS, WatchOS, iTunes and Xcode.

At least five of the 39 documented iOS/iPad vulnerabilities could lead to remote code execution attacks if an iPhone user opens a malicious PDF file or views malicious web content.

According to an advisory from Apple, the newest iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 addresses multiple memory safety issues in several OS components, including Accelerate Framework, the oft-targeted ImageIO and the WebKit rendering engine.

The most series of the documented vulnerabilities:

CVE-2022-22633 – Accelerate Framework — A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to heap corruption

CVE-2022-22611 — ImageIO — An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Processing a maliciously crafted image may lead to arbitrary code execution.

CVE-2022-22610 – WebKit —  A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to code execution.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

CVE-2022-22624 and CVE-2022-22628 —  Use after free vulnerabilities were addressed with improved memory management. Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.

The iOS and iPadOS updates also fixes memory corruption flaws in multiple OS software components, including AVEVideoEncoder, CoreMedia, FaceTime, GPU Drivers, iTunes, Kernel, Sandbox, Siri and Software update.

The tech giant also released Security Update 2022-003 (macOS Catalina) and patches for macOS Big Sur and macOS Monterey.

Security-themed patches were also released to fix flaws in XCode (macOS Monterey 12 and later) and the tvOS and WatchOS systems.

The company also released a new version of iTunes for Windows to cover serious WebKit and ImageIO vulnerabilities.

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

Related: Apple Ships Urgent Patch for FORCEDENTRY Zero-Days

Related: Apple Patches ‘Actively Exploited’ Mac, iOS Security Flaw

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.

Join this event as we dive into threat hunting tools and frameworks, and explore value of threat intelligence data in the defender’s security stack.

Register

Learn how integrating BAS and Automated Penetration Testing empowers security teams to quickly identify and validate threats, enabling prompt response and remediation.

Register

People on the Move

Edge Delta has appointed Joan Pepin as its Chief Information Security Officer.

Vats Srivatsan has been appointed interim CEO of WatchGuard after Prakash Panjwani stepped down.

Network security policy management firm FireMon has appointed Alex Bender as Chief Marketing 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.