CVE-2024-27874 in iOS
Summary
by MITRE • 09/17/2024
This issue was addressed through improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/18/2024
This vulnerability represents a denial-of-service condition that was resolved through enhanced state management mechanisms within the iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The issue specifically affected versions prior to iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, where improper handling of system states could potentially allow a remote attacker to trigger a service disruption. The fix implemented by Apple demonstrates a defensive programming approach that addresses potential state transition vulnerabilities that could be exploited to crash system services or render applications unresponsive.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with common software security principles where state management flaws can create opportunities for attackers to manipulate system behavior through carefully crafted inputs or network communications. From a cybersecurity perspective, this represents a critical weakness in the operating system's resilience against remote exploitation, particularly concerning how the system maintains and transitions between different operational states during normal execution cycles. The vulnerability likely involved improper validation of state parameters or insufficient bounds checking during state transitions that could be manipulated by external actors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as denial-of-service conditions can affect system availability and user productivity. In enterprise environments, such vulnerabilities could potentially be leveraged to create persistent service interruptions or be combined with other attack vectors to escalate compromise. The remote nature of the attack means that exploitation does not require physical access to the device, making it particularly concerning for mobile platforms where users may encounter malicious content through various network channels including email attachments, web browsing, or malicious applications.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability resolution emphasizes the importance of proper state management in operating system design and implementation. The fix demonstrates Apple's approach to addressing issues through systematic code review and state validation mechanisms, which aligns with best practices outlined in the software security community. Organizations should prioritize updating to iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 to mitigate this risk, as the enhanced state management prevents exploitation of the vulnerability. The remediation approach reflects defensive programming principles and follows industry standards for secure software development practices that help prevent similar issues in future releases.
This vulnerability classification can be mapped to CWE-362, which addresses concurrent execution using shared resource access vulnerabilities, and may also relate to CWE-20, which covers input validation issues that could lead to state manipulation. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability could be categorized under T1499, which deals with network denial of service, and potentially T1059, which involves command and scripting interpreters, as the exploitation might involve manipulating system states through network communications. The fix implementation demonstrates the importance of robust state validation and proper resource management in preventing unauthorized system state transitions that could lead to service disruption.