CVE-2017-2350 in Safari
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.2.1 is affected. Safari before 10.0.3 is affected. tvOS before 10.1.1 is affected. The issue involves the "WebKit" component. It allows remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and obtain sensitive information via a crafted web site.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2350 represents a critical security flaw within Apple's WebKit rendering engine that affects multiple operating systems including iOS, Safari, and tvOS. This issue stems from a failure in the Same Origin Policy implementation, which serves as a fundamental security mechanism in web browsers designed to prevent unauthorized access to resources across different origins. The vulnerability specifically impacts iOS versions prior to 10.2.1, Safari versions before 10.0.3, and tvOS versions before 10.1.1, indicating a widespread exposure across Apple's ecosystem. The Same Origin Policy is a core security principle that restricts how documents or scripts loaded from one origin can interact with resources from another origin, and its bypass creates significant risks for user data protection and privacy.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through crafted web content that manipulates the WebKit component to circumvent the security boundaries that normally protect users from cross-origin data access. Attackers can construct malicious websites that leverage this flaw to access sensitive information that should normally be restricted due to origin-based security policies. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-284, which describes improper access control mechanisms, and represents a classic example of how browser security models can be undermined through component-level flaws. The exploitation typically involves sophisticated techniques that exploit the underlying architecture of WebKit's security implementation, allowing attackers to perform unauthorized data access across different domains and origins than permitted by standard security protocols.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-2350 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates opportunities for more severe attacks including session hijacking, data theft, and potential escalation to full system compromise. Users of affected Apple products become vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks where attackers can intercept and access sensitive data that should remain protected within secure origins. The vulnerability's presence in WebKit means that any web-based attack vector could potentially exploit this flaw, making it particularly dangerous as users frequently interact with untrusted web content. This issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 which involves executing malicious code through web browsers, and demonstrates how browser-based vulnerabilities can serve as entry points for broader attack campaigns.
Organizations and individual users affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to the patched versions of their respective operating systems and browsers. Apple's release of iOS 10.2.1, Safari 10.0.3, and tvOS 10.1.1 addressed this specific flaw through patches that corrected the WebKit component's handling of cross-origin requests. Additional defensive measures include implementing browser security extensions, enabling content filtering mechanisms, and maintaining awareness of suspicious web content. Security professionals should monitor for exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability through network traffic analysis and endpoint detection systems, as the bypass of Same Origin Policy creates detectable patterns in web traffic that can indicate compromise attempts. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all browser and operating system components, as WebKit's role in rendering web content makes it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit fundamental browser security mechanisms.