CVE-2020-9991 in tvOS
Summary
by MITRE • 12/09/2020
This issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, watchOS 7.0, iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0, iCloud for Windows 7.21, tvOS 14.0. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/15/2020
This vulnerability represents a denial of service condition that affects multiple Apple operating systems and applications. The issue was identified as a security flaw that could be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt system functionality. Apple addressed this concern through enhanced validation mechanisms and improved input checking procedures. The fix was implemented across several platform versions including macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, watchOS 7.0, iOS 14.0, iPadOS 14.0, iCloud for Windows 7.21, and tvOS 14.0. The vulnerability classification aligns with common weakness enumeration CWE-400 which specifically addresses unchecked resource consumption and denial of service conditions. From an operational perspective, this flaw could have allowed attackers to remotely destabilize affected systems through carefully crafted malicious inputs that would trigger system resource exhaustion or process termination.
The technical nature of this vulnerability involves insufficient validation of inputs or system resources that could be manipulated by external threat actors. Attackers could potentially exploit this weakness to cause system instability by sending malformed requests or inputs that would consume excessive resources or trigger unexpected behavior in the affected applications. This type of attack pattern falls under the broader category of resource exhaustion attacks and can be mapped to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework within the resource consumption category. The implementation of improved checks suggests that the original flaw likely involved inadequate bounds checking, input sanitization, or resource management that allowed malicious actors to manipulate system behavior through remote interactions.
The impact of this vulnerability extends across Apple's ecosystem, affecting both mobile and desktop operating systems as well as cloud synchronization services. Organizations and users running affected versions would have been exposed to potential disruption of services, application crashes, or complete system unavailability. The remediation approach taken by Apple involved strengthening the validation logic and implementing additional safeguards to prevent the exploitation of this specific weakness. This fix demonstrates Apple's proactive approach to addressing security concerns and reflects industry best practices for preventing denial of service scenarios. The vulnerability serves as an example of how seemingly minor input validation gaps can lead to significant operational impacts when exploited by malicious actors.
Security professionals should prioritize the deployment of these updates across all affected systems to prevent exploitation. The mitigation strategy focuses on preventing unauthorized access to system resources through improved validation mechanisms. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and maintain awareness of related attack patterns. The fix addresses a fundamental security principle of ensuring that all inputs are properly validated before processing, which aligns with secure coding practices and helps prevent cascading failures that could impact broader network operations. This vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date systems and demonstrates how vendor security patches play a critical role in protecting enterprise environments from remote exploitation attempts.