CVE-2016-7615 in watchOS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.2 is affected. macOS before 10.12.2 is affected. watchOS before 3.1.3 is affected. The issue involves the "Kernel" component, which allows local users to cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7615 represents a critical kernel-level flaw affecting multiple Apple operating systems including iOS versions prior to 10.2, macOS versions before 10.12.2, and watchOS versions before 3.1.3. This issue resides within the kernel component of Apple's operating systems, which serves as the core foundation responsible for system-level operations and resource management. The kernel acts as the central hub for all system activities including process management, memory allocation, device drivers, and security enforcement mechanisms, making any vulnerability within this component particularly dangerous as it can compromise the fundamental integrity of the operating system.
The technical nature of this vulnerability allows local users to execute a denial of service attack through unspecified vectors, which indicates that the flaw can be exploited by someone with local system access to disrupt normal system operations. This type of vulnerability typically involves memory corruption issues, buffer overflows, or improper input validation within kernel code that can lead to system crashes or complete system lockups. The unspecified vectors suggest that multiple attack paths may exist within the kernel component, potentially involving different system calls or kernel functions that handle user-space to kernel-space transitions. Such vulnerabilities are particularly concerning because they can be triggered by seemingly benign operations that eventually lead to system instability.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to users who may unknowingly trigger the denial of service condition through routine system activities. The local nature of the exploit means that an attacker would need physical access to the device or already have user-level access, but this is still a serious concern as it could be leveraged by malicious applications or processes running with legitimate user privileges. The impact extends beyond simple system crashes as it could potentially be used to prevent legitimate system services from operating, effectively rendering the device unusable until a reboot occurs. This vulnerability affects the core stability of Apple's operating systems and could be exploited to disrupt critical services or applications that depend on kernel-level functionality.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2016-7615 primarily involves updating to the patched versions of the affected operating systems, which Apple released as part of their regular security updates. System administrators and users should prioritize applying these updates immediately to protect against exploitation. Additionally, organizations should implement monitoring to detect any unusual system behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around kernel-level activities and system crash events. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-119, which addresses "Improper Access to Resource Through Symbolic Link" and CWE-121, which covers "Stack-based Buffer Overflow" as potential underlying causes for kernel-level memory corruption issues. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability could be categorized under T1499, which deals with "Endpoint Denial of Service" and potentially T1059, "Command and Scripting Interpreter", as attackers might attempt to leverage the vulnerability through command execution. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of kernel security and the need for comprehensive testing and validation of system components before deployment.