CVE-2025-24237 in visionOS
Summary
by MITRE • 04/01/2025
A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in visionOS 2.4, macOS Ventura 13.7.5, iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, iPadOS 17.7.6, macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5. An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/01/2025
This vulnerability represents a classic buffer overflow condition that was remediated through enhanced bounds checking mechanisms within Apple's operating systems. The flaw existed in the foundational memory management systems that govern how applications interact with system resources, creating an exploitable condition where malicious code could manipulate memory boundaries beyond their allocated limits. The vulnerability affects multiple Apple platforms including visionOS, macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, indicating a widespread impact across the company's ecosystem. The issue specifically enables an app to cause unexpected system termination, which represents a critical stability concern that could potentially be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory boundary enforcement within Apple's system libraries. When applications process data structures or user inputs without proper bounds checking, they create opportunities for attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations. This type of flaw falls under the common weakness enumeration CWE-121, which categorizes buffer overflow conditions as a fundamental security vulnerability affecting memory safety. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that the vulnerability can be triggered by seemingly benign applications, making it difficult to detect and prevent through traditional security monitoring approaches. The exploitation potential extends beyond simple system crashes to include more advanced techniques such as privilege escalation or information disclosure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on Apple's ecosystem, as it creates potential entry points for adversaries seeking to compromise system stability and security. System termination events can be used as a vector for denial-of-service attacks or as a stepping stone for more complex exploitation campaigns. The fact that this vulnerability affects multiple platform versions demonstrates Apple's recognition of the widespread nature of the issue, requiring coordinated patch management across various operating system versions. Security teams must prioritize the deployment of these updates as they represent a baseline requirement for maintaining system integrity and preventing exploitation by threat actors who may be actively targeting these memory safety flaws.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate deployment of the patched versions across all affected platforms, with particular attention to environments where untrusted applications may be executed. Organizations should implement robust application whitelisting policies to prevent potentially malicious applications from running on their systems, as this creates additional defense layers against exploitation attempts. The updated bounds checking mechanisms in the patched versions provide improved memory protection that aligns with the ATT&CK framework's defense evasion techniques, specifically addressing tactics related to system binary proxy execution and privilege escalation. Regular security assessments should verify that all endpoints have been updated to the latest versions, as the vulnerability represents a persistent risk that could be exploited by adversaries with sufficient knowledge of the system's memory management behavior.