CVE-2017-2516 in macOS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. macOS before 10.12.5 is affected. The issue involves the "Kernel" component. It allows attackers to bypass intended memory-read restrictions via a crafted app.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2516 represents a critical kernel-level security flaw affecting macOS versions prior to 10.12.5. This issue resides within the kernel component of Apple's operating system, which serves as the core foundation responsible for system-level operations and memory management. The vulnerability stems from insufficient memory access controls that allow malicious applications to circumvent the intended restrictions designed to protect system memory from unauthorized access. The flaw specifically enables attackers to craft specially designed applications that can bypass kernel memory-read protections, potentially exposing sensitive system information and compromising the overall security posture of affected systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves exploiting weaknesses in the kernel's memory management subsystem where proper access controls fail to validate memory read operations from user-space applications. Attackers can leverage this flaw by developing malicious applications that utilize crafted memory access patterns or by manipulating existing applications to perform unauthorized memory reads. This represents a classic case of insufficient privilege checking within kernel space, where the system fails to properly enforce memory access boundaries between different security contexts. The vulnerability falls under the category of kernel-level privilege escalation and memory corruption issues that can significantly undermine system integrity and confidentiality.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-2516 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates potential pathways for more sophisticated attacks that could lead to complete system compromise. An attacker with successful exploitation could access kernel memory regions containing sensitive data such as encryption keys, user credentials, or system configuration information. This vulnerability aligns with attack patterns described in the attack technique T1068 (Local Port Forwarding) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) from the MITRE ATT&CK framework, where compromised systems can be used to establish persistence or escalate privileges. The vulnerability also relates to CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and CWE-122 (Heap Overflow) categories, representing both access control failures and memory management issues that can be exploited to gain unauthorized system access.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement patch management procedures to upgrade to macOS 10.12.5 or later versions where Apple has addressed the kernel memory access control issues. System administrators should also monitor for suspicious application behavior and implement application whitelisting policies to prevent the execution of untrusted code that could exploit this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include enabling System Integrity Protection (SIP) features, regularly reviewing system logs for anomalous memory access patterns, and conducting security assessments to identify potentially compromised systems. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date operating system versions and demonstrates how kernel-level flaws can provide attackers with powerful capabilities to bypass multiple layers of system security protections.