CVE-2016-7652 in iCloud
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.2 is affected. Safari before 10.0.2 is affected. iCloud before 6.1 is affected. iTunes before 12.5.4 is affected. The issue involves the "WebKit" component. It allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via a crafted web site.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/07/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7652 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within Apple's WebKit rendering engine that affected multiple Apple products including iOS versions prior to 10.2, Safari versions before 10.0.2, iCloud versions before 6.1, and iTunes versions before 12.5.4. This vulnerability resides within the WebKit component which serves as the core web rendering engine powering Safari and other Apple applications that display web content. The flaw manifests as a heap-based buffer overflow or memory corruption issue that occurs when processing specially crafted web content, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through web-based attacks without requiring user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 heap-based buffer overflow category, which represents a fundamental memory safety issue where attackers can overwrite adjacent memory locations and potentially execute arbitrary code or cause application crashes.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker crafts a malicious website containing specially designed web content that triggers the memory corruption flaw within WebKit's parsing or rendering functions. The attack vector leverages the browser's handling of web content such as HTML, JavaScript, or multimedia elements that can cause the WebKit engine to allocate memory incorrectly or access memory outside of its allocated boundaries. When a user visits the compromised website, the malicious code within the web content triggers the memory corruption, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the affected application. This type of vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can be delivered through standard web browsing activities, making it a prime target for drive-by download attacks or phishing campaigns. The vulnerability's classification aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 - Exploitation for Client Execution, which describes how attackers use vulnerabilities to execute code on target systems through compromised applications.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-7652 extends beyond simple application crashes to potentially enable full system compromise, as memory corruption vulnerabilities often provide attackers with the ability to escalate privileges or inject malicious code into running processes. Affected users who visited malicious websites could experience complete system compromise, data theft, or unauthorized access to personal information stored in Apple applications. The widespread nature of the vulnerability across multiple Apple platforms including mobile devices, desktop applications, and cloud services makes it particularly dangerous, as attackers can target users across different device types and operating systems. The vulnerability also demonstrates the critical importance of keeping software updated, as Apple released patches in iOS 10.2, Safari 10.0.2, iCloud 6.1, and iTunes 12.5.4 to address the memory corruption issue. Organizations and individuals affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching, as the window of exposure increases with each day without remediation, and attackers could develop working exploits for this vulnerability before patches were widely deployed. The vulnerability's impact on user privacy and security makes it a significant concern for both individual users and enterprise environments that rely on Apple products for business operations.