CVE-2016-4607 in tvOS
Summary
by MITRE
libxslt in Apple iOS before 9.3.3, OS X before 10.11.6, iTunes before 12.4.2 on Windows, iCloud before 5.2.1 on Windows, tvOS before 9.2.2, and watchOS before 2.2.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-4608, CVE-2016-4609, CVE-2016-4610, and CVE-2016-4612.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/06/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-4607 represents a critical memory corruption issue within Apple's libxslt library implementation across multiple operating systems and applications. This flaw affects iOS versions prior to 9.3.3, macOS versions before 10.11.6, Windows versions of iTunes and iCloud before their respective updated releases, as well as tvOS before 9.2.2 and watchOS before 2.2.2. The vulnerability resides in the XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) processing functionality that Apple utilizes for various document transformation tasks throughout their ecosystem. The affected libxslt library serves as a core component in Apple's XML processing pipeline, handling stylesheet transformations that are fundamental to many applications including web content rendering, data processing, and document generation within Apple's software stack.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves improper memory handling during XSLT processing operations, specifically manifesting as memory corruption issues that can lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service conditions. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious XSLT stylesheets or XML documents that trigger buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or other memory management errors within the libxslt library implementation. The vulnerability operates through unknown vectors that differ from related CVEs in the same year, indicating a distinct code path or processing logic flaw within the library's memory management subsystem. These memory corruption issues can manifest in various ways including heap corruption, stack corruption, or pointer manipulation errors that compromise the stability and security of the affected systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-4607 extends across Apple's entire ecosystem, affecting both consumer and enterprise users who rely on Apple's software stack for daily operations. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely through various attack vectors including web-based content delivery, email attachments, or file sharing mechanisms that utilize XSLT processing. Successful exploitation can result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected application, potentially leading to data theft, system takeover, or persistent backdoor installation. The denial of service aspect of this vulnerability can also be leveraged to disrupt services or applications that depend on proper XSLT processing functionality, creating operational disruptions in business environments that rely on Apple's software stack for critical operations.
Organizations and users should prioritize immediate remediation through official Apple security updates and patches released for each affected platform. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive vulnerability assessment across all Apple software installations, network monitoring for exploitation attempts, and implementation of network segmentation controls to limit potential attack surface. Security teams should also implement application whitelisting policies that restrict execution of untrusted XSLT content and establish incident response procedures for potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) and CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) classifications, representing memory safety issues that can lead to privilege escalation and system compromise. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation, defense evasion, and execution through legitimate system processes, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Apple software is extensively deployed. Regular security assessments and patch management processes should be strengthened to address similar vulnerabilities in third-party libraries and system components that may present analogous memory corruption risks.