Multiple Vulnerabilities in Apple Products Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution

Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Apple Products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution.

• Safari is a graphical web browser developed by Apple.
• iOS is a mobile operating system for mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
• iPadOS is the successor to iOS 12 and is a mobile operating system for iPads.
• macOS Monterey is the 18th and current major release of macOS.
• macOS Big Sur is the 17th release of macOS.
• macOS Catalina is the 16th major release of macOS
• watchOS is the mobile operating system for Apple Watch and is based on the iOS operating system.
• tvOS is an operating system for fourth-generation Apple TV digital media player.
• Xcode is Apple’s integrated development environment for macOS
  Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could result in arbitrary code execution within the context of the application, an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged-on user, or the bypassing of security restrictions. Depending on the permission associated with the application running the exploit, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data.

There are currently no reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild.

May 17th – UPDATED THREAT INTELLIGENCE:
Apple is aware CVE-2022-22675 is currently being exploited in the wild.

Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Apple Products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected user. Following the MITRE ATT&CK framework, exploitation of these vulnerabilities can be classified as follows::
Tactic: Execution (TA0002):
Technique: Native API (T1106):

• A buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory handling. (CVE-2022-26741, CVE-2022-26742, CVE-2022-26749, CVE-2022-26750, CVE-2022-26752, CVE-2022-26753, CVE-2022-26754)

  Technique: Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203):

• An integer overflow was addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-26711, CVE-2022-26775)

• An access issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions on third-party applications. (CVE-2022-26706)

Tactic: Privilege Escalation (TA0029):
Technique: Process Injection (T1055):

• A race condition was addressed with improved locking. (CVE-2022-26701)
• A race condition was addressed with improved state handling. (CVE-2022-26765)
• A memory corruption issues were addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2018-25032, CVE-2022-26723, CVE-2022-26751, CVE-2022-26769)
• A memory corruption issues were addressed with improved memory handling. (CVE-2022-26761, CVE-2022-26762)
• A memory corruption issues were addressed with improved state management. (CVE-2022-26700, CVE-2022-26716, CVE-2022-26719, CVE-2022-26744, CVE-2022-26760, CVE-2022-26768, CVE-2022-26771, CVE-2022-26772)
• A memory corruption issues were addressed with improved validation. (CVE-2022-26714, CVE-2022-26745, CVE-2022-26764)
• A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management.)
• A memory initialization issue was addressed. (CVE-2022-26721, CVE-2022-26722)
• A use after free issues were addressed with improved memory management. (CVE-2022-23308, CVE-2022-26702, CVE-2022-26709, CVE-2022-26710, CVE-2022-26717, CVE-2022-26757)

Details of lower-severity vulnerabilities are as follows:

• A certificate parsing issue was addressed with improved checks. (CVE-2022-26766)
• A denial of service issue was addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-0778)
• A denial of service issue was addressed with improved state handling. (CVE-2022-0530)
• A logic issue in the handling of concurrent media was addressed with improved state handling.)
• A logic issue in the handling of concurrent media was addressed with improved state handling. (CVE-2022-22677)
• A logic issues were addressed with improved state management. (CVE-2022-24765, CVE-2022-26725, CVE-2022-26731)
• A logic issue was addressed with improved validation. (CVE-2022-22665)
• An authentication issue was addressed with improved state management. (CVE-2022-26724)
• An authorization issue was addressed with improved state management. (CVE-2022-26703)
• An out-of-bounds access issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. (CVE-2022-26763)
• An out-of-bounds read issue existed that led to the disclosure of kernel memory. This was addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-22674)
• An out-of-bounds read issues were addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-26697, CVE-2022-26718, CVE-2022-26770)
• An out-of-bounds read issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. (CVE-2022-26698)
• An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. (CVE-2022-26698)
• An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-26697)
• An out-of-bounds write issues were addressed with improved bounds checking. (CVE-2022-22675, CVE-2022-26715, CVE-2022-26720, CVE-2022-26736, CVE-2022-26737, CVE-2022-26738, CVE-2022-26739, CVE-2022-26740, CVE-2022-26743)
• An out-of-bounds write issues were addressed with improved input validation. (CVE-2022-26748, CVE-2022-26756)
• A validation issue existed in the handling of symlinks and was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. (CVE-2022-26704)
• A validation issue was addressed with improved input sanitization. (CVE-2022-22589)
• Multiple issues were addressed by updating apache to version 2.4.53. (CVE-2021-44224, CVE-2021-44790, CVE-2022-22719, CVE-2022-22720, CVE-2022-22721)
• Multiple issues were addressed by updating Vim. (CVE-2021-4136, CVE-2021-4166, CVE-2021-4173, CVE-2021-4187, CVE-2021-4192, CVE-2021-4193, CVE-2021-46059, CVE-2022-0128)
• An issue was addressed with additional permissions checks. (CVE-2022-26767)
• An issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. (CVE-2022-26712)
• An issue was addressed by updating to zsh version 5.8.1. (CVE-2021-45444)
• An issue was addressed with improved checks. (CVE-2015-4142)
• An issue was addressed with improved checks to prevent unauthorized actions. (CVE-2022-22663)
• An issue was addressed with improved entitlements. (CVE-2022-26727)
• An issue was addressed with improved environment sanitization. (CVE-2022-26755)
  Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could result in arbitrary code execution within the context of the application, an attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged-on user, or the bypassing of security restrictions. Depending on the permission associated with the application running the exploit, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data.

We recommend the following actions be taken:

• Apply the stable channel update provided by Apple to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing. (M1051: Update Software)
  o Safeguard 7.1: Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process: Establish and maintain a documented vulnerability management process for enterprise assets. Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  o Safeguard 7.4: Perform Automated Application Patch Management: Perform application updates on enterprise assets through automated patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.
• Remind users not to visit un-trusted websites or follow links provided by unknown or un-trusted sources. Inform and educate users regarding the threats posed by hypertext links contained in emails or attachments especially from un-trusted sources. (M1017: User Training)
  o Safeguard 14.1: Establish and Maintain a Security Awareness Program: Establish and maintain a security awareness program. The purpose of a security awareness program is to educate the enterprise’s workforce on how to interact with enterprise assets and data in a secure manner. Conduct training at hire and, at a minimum, annually. Review and update content annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  o Safeguard 14.2: Train Workforce Members to Recognize Social Engineering Attacks: Train workforce members to recognize social engineering attacks, such as phishing, pre-texting, and tailgating.
• Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services. Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack. (M1026: Privileged Account Management)
  o Safeguard 4.7: Manage Default Accounts on Enterprise Assets and Software: Manage default accounts on enterprise assets and software, such as root, administrator, and other pre-configured vendor accounts. Example implementations can include: disabling default accounts or making them unusable.
  o Safeguard 5.4: Restrict Administrator Privileges to Dedicated Administrator Accounts: Restrict administrator privileges to dedicated administrator accounts on enterprise assets. Conduct general computing activities, such as internet browsing, email, and productivity suite use, from the user’s primary, non-privileged account.
• Block execution of code on a system through application control, and/or script blocking. (M1038 : Execution Prevention)
  o Safeguard 2.5 : Allowlist Authorized Software: Use technical controls, such as application allowlisting, to ensure that only authorized software can execute or be accessed. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  o o Safeguard 2.6 : Allowlist Authorized Libraries: Use technical controls to ensure that only authorized software libraries, such as specific .dll, .ocx, .so, etc., files, are allowed to load into a system process. Block unauthorized libraries from loading into a system process. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  o Safeguard 2.7 : Allowlist Authorized Scripts: Use technical controls, such as digital signatures and version control, to ensure that only authorized scripts, such as specific .ps1, .py, etc., files, are allowed to execute. Block unauthorized scripts from executing. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
• Restrict execution of code to a virtual environment on or in transit to an endpoint system. (M1048 : Application Isolation and Sandboxing)
  o Safeguard 4.1 : Establish and Maintain a Secure Configuration Process: Establish and maintain a secure configuration process for enterprise assets (end-user devices, including portable and mobile, non-computing/IoT devices, and servers) and software (operating systems and applications). Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
• Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior. (M1040 : Behavior Prevention on Endpoint)
  o Safeguard 13.2 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Detection Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion detection solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported.
  o Safeguard 13.7 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Prevention Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion prevention solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported. Example implementations include use of an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) client or host-based IPS agent.