CVE-2015-7106 in Mac OS X
Summary
by MITRE
The Intel Graphics Driver component in Apple OS X before 10.11.2 allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/31/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-7106 represents a critical security flaw within the Intel Graphics Driver component of Apple's macOS operating system. This issue affected versions prior to macOS 10.11.2 and demonstrates the inherent risks associated with graphics driver software in operating systems. Graphics drivers serve as crucial intermediaries between hardware and software, managing display operations and graphics processing, making them attractive targets for attackers seeking to escalate privileges or compromise system stability. The vulnerability specifically resides within the graphics driver subsystem that interfaces with Intel graphics hardware, creating potential attack surfaces that could be exploited by local malicious actors.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves unspecified vectors that lead to either privilege escalation or memory corruption conditions. Memory corruption vulnerabilities typically arise from improper handling of memory operations such as buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or integer overflows within driver code. These issues can manifest when the graphics driver fails to properly validate input parameters or manage memory allocations during graphics processing operations. The unspecified vectors suggest that multiple attack paths may exist within the driver's codebase, potentially involving different graphics operations or API calls that trigger the underlying memory corruption. This ambiguity in the vulnerability description indicates the complexity of graphics driver security and the difficulty in completely enumerating all potential attack surfaces within such sophisticated software components.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to macOS systems running affected versions. Local privilege escalation capabilities mean that an attacker with low-privilege access could potentially elevate their privileges to system-level access, enabling them to bypass security controls, access sensitive data, or modify system configurations. The denial of service aspect creates additional concerns as memory corruption can lead to system crashes, application instability, or complete system hangs that disrupt normal operations. The graphics driver component's role in managing display functionality means that exploitation could result in visual artifacts, screen freezes, or complete system lockups that severely impact user productivity and system reliability. These impacts are particularly concerning in enterprise environments where system stability and security are paramount considerations.
The vulnerability aligns with several cybersecurity frameworks and threat models, including CWE categories related to memory corruption and privilege escalation. Specifically, this issue may map to CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, or CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under privilege escalation techniques, potentially utilizing T1068 for local privilege escalation and T1499 for denial of service operations. Organizations should consider implementing comprehensive patch management strategies to address this vulnerability, as the affected graphics driver component represents a critical system component that requires regular updates. The remediation process typically involves updating to macOS 10.11.2 or later versions where Apple has addressed the underlying driver vulnerabilities through code modifications and security enhancements.
Security professionals should recognize that graphics driver vulnerabilities often represent complex exploitation targets due to the specialized nature of graphics processing and the sophisticated memory management requirements. The Intel Graphics Driver component's interaction with both hardware and software layers creates unique challenges for vulnerability analysis and remediation. System administrators should prioritize patch deployment for this vulnerability, particularly in environments where local user access cannot be strictly controlled. Additional mitigations may include monitoring for unusual graphics processing behavior, implementing network segmentation to limit potential attack vectors, and maintaining comprehensive system monitoring to detect exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date graphics drivers and the need for thorough security testing of graphics-related software components in operating systems.