CVE-2018-4192 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 11.4 is affected. Safari before 11.1.1 is affected. iCloud before 7.5 on Windows is affected. iTunes before 12.7.5 on Windows is affected. tvOS before 11.4 is affected. watchOS before 4.3.1 is affected. The issue involves the "WebKit" component. It allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted web site that leverages a race condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/30/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-4192 represents a critical security flaw within Apple's WebKit rendering engine that affected multiple Apple operating systems and applications. This vulnerability resides in the core web browsing component that powers Safari, iCloud, iTunes, and other Apple applications, making it particularly dangerous as it could be exploited across numerous attack vectors. The flaw specifically manifests as a race condition within the WebKit component, a sophisticated timing-based vulnerability that occurs when multiple threads or processes access shared resources without proper synchronization mechanisms. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-362 category, which classifies race conditions as a fundamental weakness in concurrency control, where the order of execution affects the outcome and can lead to unpredictable behavior.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires a remote attacker to craft a malicious website that can trigger the race condition in the WebKit engine. When a user visits such a crafted webpage, the race condition allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user's browser session. This means that the malicious code can potentially access sensitive user data, perform actions on behalf of the user, or even gain deeper system access depending on the user's privileges. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple code execution to encompass potential data theft, session hijacking, and privilege escalation attacks that could compromise entire user accounts.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-4192 is substantial given the widespread adoption of affected Apple products and the broad attack surface it presents. Users of iOS versions prior to 11.4, Safari versions before 11.1.1, and various Windows applications like iCloud 7.4 and iTunes 12.7.4 were all at risk, creating a massive potential attack surface. The vulnerability's exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to personal information stored in iCloud, financial data through banking applications, or confidential communications. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as the arbitrary code execution allows for persistent access and further exploitation of compromised systems. The race condition nature also makes this vulnerability particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional security measures.
Apple's response to this vulnerability involved releasing security updates for all affected versions, with the most critical fixes appearing in iOS 11.4, Safari 11.1.1, and corresponding Windows applications. Organizations and individuals should have immediately applied these updates to mitigate the risk of exploitation. The vulnerability highlights the importance of regular security patching and the need for organizations to maintain comprehensive inventory tracking of all Apple products in their environments. Security teams should have implemented network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and established incident response procedures to handle potential breaches. The remediation process required careful consideration of compatibility issues, as many organizations needed to test updates before deployment to ensure they did not disrupt critical business operations. This vulnerability also demonstrated the need for continuous security awareness training for users, as the attack vector involved visiting malicious websites, making user education crucial for defense against such social engineering attacks.