CVE-2017-2470 in tvOS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.3 is affected. Safari before 10.1 is affected. tvOS before 10.2 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/28/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2470 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within Apple's WebKit rendering engine that affected multiple Apple operating systems including iOS versions prior to 10.3 Safari versions prior to 10.1 and tvOS versions prior to 10.2. This vulnerability resides in the core web browsing component responsible for processing and rendering web content across Apple's ecosystem. The flaw manifests as a heap-based buffer overflow or memory corruption issue that occurs when WebKit processes specially crafted web pages containing malicious code or malformed data structures. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it enables remote code execution attacks that can be triggered simply by visiting a compromised website without any user interaction required beyond normal web browsing activities.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it within the CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read category and potentially CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write classifications as described in the Common Weakness Enumeration database. The flaw occurs during the parsing and rendering process of web content where WebKit fails to properly validate memory allocations and bounds checking when handling specific data patterns or HTML elements. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by hosting malicious web content that, when loaded in Safari or other affected Apple browsers, triggers the memory corruption condition. The exploitation mechanism typically involves carefully crafted JavaScript code or HTML elements that manipulate memory pointers or buffer sizes in ways that cause the browser to write data beyond allocated memory regions, leading to either arbitrary code execution or predictable application crashes.
From an operational perspective this vulnerability creates significant security risks for Apple device users as it allows attackers to remotely compromise devices simply through web browsing activities. The impact extends beyond individual user privacy and device security to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks such as persistent backdoor installations or data exfiltration. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that users do not need to download or interact with malicious files directly - merely visiting a compromised website can result in successful exploitation. This characteristic aligns with the ATT&CK framework's T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution technique where adversaries leverage application vulnerabilities to execute malicious code on target systems. The memory corruption aspect also makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be used to bypass modern security mitigations such as address space layout randomization and data execution prevention mechanisms.
The remediation approach for CVE-2017-2470 requires immediate deployment of Apple's security updates including iOS 10.3 Safari 10.1 and tvOS 10.2 releases that contain patches addressing the WebKit memory corruption issues. Organizations should implement network-based protections such as web application firewalls and content filtering solutions that can detect and block known malicious web content patterns. Browser hardening measures including disabling unnecessary JavaScript features and implementing strict content security policies can provide additional defense layers. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual network traffic patterns or browser crashes that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular patch management processes must be enforced across all Apple devices within organizational environments to ensure timely remediation of such vulnerabilities. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software and the potential consequences of running outdated operating systems that may contain unpatched security flaws.