CISA: MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY – A Vulnerability in Apple iOS

By Aimee Andres | October 12, 2021

MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY - A Vulnerability in Apple iOS and

TLP: WHITE

MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY

MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER: 2021-131

DATE(S) ISSUED: 10/12/2021

SUBJECT:

A Vulnerability in Apple iOS and iPadOS Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution.

OVERVIEW:

A vulnerability has been discovered in iOS and iPadOS which could allow for arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. iOS and iPadOS are operating systems for Apple’s mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow an attacker to install programs and view, change, or delete any data due to kernel privileges.

THREAT INTELLIGENCE:

Apple has reported that CVE-2021-30883 is being exploited in the wild.

SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

iOS prior to 15.0.2
iPadOS prior to 15.0.2

RISK:

Government:

Large and medium government entities: High
Small government entities: Medium

Businesses:

Large and medium business entities: High
Small business entities: Medium

Home users: Medium

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:

An integer overflow vulnerability has been discovered in iOS and iPadOS which could allow for arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. This has been addressed in the latest patch via improved memory handling.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow an attacker to install programs and view, change, or delete any data due to kernel privileges.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

We recommend the following actions be taken:

Apply appropriate patches provided by Apple to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing.

Remind users not to download, accept or execute files from untrusted and unknown sources.
Remind users not to visit untrusted websites or follow links provided by untrusted or unknown sources.

REFERENCES:

Apple:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212846

HelpNetSecurity:

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/12/cve-2021-30883/

CVE:

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-30883

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