CVE-2017-2544 in Safari
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.3.2 is affected. Safari before 10.1.1 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 • 12/24/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-2544 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within Apple's WebKit rendering engine that affected multiple iOS and Safari versions. This vulnerability resides in the core web browsing component responsible for processing and rendering web content across Apple's ecosystem. The flaw specifically impacts iOS versions prior to 10.3.2 and Safari versions before 10.1.1, indicating a widespread exposure across Apple's mobile and desktop platforms. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue within the WebKit component places it squarely within the realm of browser-based exploitation vectors that can lead to arbitrary code execution or system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory management within the WebKit engine's handling of crafted web content. Attackers can leverage this flaw by constructing malicious websites that trigger specific memory corruption patterns when processed by the vulnerable browser components. The memory corruption occurs during the parsing or rendering of specially crafted web elements, potentially leading to memory addresses being overwritten or corrupted in ways that allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected application. This type of vulnerability typically arises from insufficient bounds checking or improper memory deallocation mechanisms that fail to validate input data before processing.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-2544 extends beyond simple application crashes to potentially enable full system compromise. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability without requiring user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website, making it particularly dangerous in phishing campaigns or compromised web hosting scenarios. The vulnerability can result in either denial of service conditions that crash the browser application or more severe exploitation that allows attackers to execute code remotely on the target system. This capability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which describes exploitation of remote services through browser-based attacks, and maps to CWE-121, which covers stack-based buffer overflow conditions. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability also relates to CWE-787, which addresses out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities that can lead to arbitrary code execution.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected systems to update to iOS 10.3.2 or later versions and Safari 10.1.1 or later. Organizations should implement network-level protections including web filtering solutions that can block access to known malicious domains and employ browser hardening techniques that disable potentially dangerous web features. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual browser behavior or memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's nature as a browser-based memory corruption flaw makes it particularly susceptible to exploit mitigation through modern security features like address space layout randomization, stack canaries, and code integrity checks that are typically included in system updates. Additionally, user education regarding safe browsing practices and avoiding untrusted websites remains crucial in reducing the attack surface for such vulnerabilities.