CVE-2018-4250 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 11.4 is affected. The issue involves the "Messages" component. It allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/21/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-4250 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Apple's Messages application affecting iOS versions prior to 11.4. This security weakness resides in the message processing subsystem of Apple's mobile operating system, specifically targeting how the Messages component handles incoming communications. The flaw enables malicious actors to exploit the application's message parsing functionality through the delivery of specially crafted messages designed to trigger unexpected behavior in the messaging service. The vulnerability demonstrates particular concern as it affects a fundamental communication feature that users rely on daily for both personal and professional interactions.
Technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker sends a malformed or specially constructed message to a victim's device running an affected iOS version. The Messages application fails to properly validate incoming message data, allowing the crafted payload to cause the application to crash or become unresponsive. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input data, and more specifically relates to CWE-400, concerning unspecified resource management issues that can lead to denial of service conditions. The flaw demonstrates characteristics of a buffer overflow or memory corruption issue within the message processing pipeline, where the application's handling of unexpected message structures results in application instability.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-4250 extends beyond simple service disruption as it affects the core communication capabilities of affected devices. Users experiencing this vulnerability may find their messaging applications repeatedly crashing or becoming non-responsive, effectively disabling their ability to send or receive messages. This disruption can have significant consequences for both personal communication and business operations, particularly in environments where reliable messaging is critical for coordination and information exchange. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability means that attackers can potentially target users without their knowledge or consent, making it particularly dangerous in mobile environments where devices are frequently exposed to untrusted networks and communications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve updating affected iOS devices to version 11.4 or later, which includes patches addressing the underlying message processing flaws. Apple's security updates typically implement input validation measures and memory management improvements to prevent the exploitation of such vulnerabilities. Security administrators should prioritize deployment of these updates across all affected devices within their environments, particularly in enterprise settings where mobile device management policies can automate the update process. Additional defensive measures include implementing network monitoring to detect unusual messaging traffic patterns and educating users about the risks of interacting with untrusted communications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving denial of service through application layer attacks and can be classified under the T1499 category for network denial of service, though the specific implementation targets the application rather than network infrastructure.