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Apple iOS 7 Update Improves Security

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iOS 7 security update

Apple has announced that iOS 7 is now available, which improves iOS security and includes hundreds of new features and a new design. The new iOS 7 addresses a gargantuan number of vulnerabilities that impacts iPhone 4 and later, iPod touch (5th generation) and later, iPad 2 and later, and one vulnerability that affects iPhone 3GS.

Highlights from the security contents of iOS 7 include fixes for a slew of issues including a dozen related to arbitrary code execution, updates to the Root Certificates (the addition or removal of several certificates from the list of system roots), a bypass for the password retry limit, which allows a malicious app to brute force the device unlock code, and a number of fixes for cross-site scripting issues within Webkit – the provider for browser functions in iOS.

Following are descriptions of all the iOS vulnerabilities (CVEs) fixed in this update:

  • CVE-2013-1025 : Buffer overflow in CoreGraphics in Apple Mac OS X before 10.8.5 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via crafted JBIG2 data in a PDF document.
  • CVE-2013-1019 : Buffer overflow in Apple QuickTime before 7.7.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted movie file with Sorenson encoding.
  • CVE-2013-0957 : Data Protection in Apple iOS before 7 allows attackers to bypass intended limits on incorrect passcode entry, and consequently avoid a configured Erase Data setting, by leveraging the presence of an app in the third-party sandbox.
  • CVE-2013-5134 : An attacker with a privileged network position may intercept user credentials or other sensitive information. TrustWave, a trusted root CA, has issued, and subsequently revoked, a sub-CA certificate from one of its trusted anchors. This sub-CA facilitated the interception of communications secured by Transport Layer Security (TLS). This update added the involved sub-CA certificate to OS X’s list of untrusted certificates.
  • CVE-2013-3950 : Stack-based buffer overflow in the openSharedCacheFile function in dyld.cpp in dyld in Apple iOS 5.1.x and 6.x through 6.1.3 makes it easier for attackers to conduct untethering attacks via a long string in the DYLD_SHARED_CACHE_DIR environment variable.
  • CVE-2013-3955 : The get_xattrinfo function in the XNU kernel in Apple iOS 5.x and 6.x through 6.1.3 on iPad devices does not properly validate the header of an AppleDouble file, which might allow local users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or have unspecified other impact via an invalid file on an msdosfs filesystem.
  • CVE-2013-1026 : Buffer overflow in ImageIO in Apple Mac OS X before 10.8.5 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via crafted JPEG2000 data in a PDF document.
  • CVE-2013-5137 : IOKit in Apple iOS before 7 allows attackers to send user-interface events to the foreground app by leveraging control over a background app and using the (1) task-completion API or (2) VoIP API.
  • CVE-2013-5138 : IOCatalogue in IOKitUser in Apple iOS before 7 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and device crash) via a crafted application.
  • CVE-2013-5139 : The IOSerialFamily driver in Apple iOS before 7 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds array access) via a crafted application.
  • CVE-2013-1028 : The IPSec implementation in Apple Mac OS X before 10.8.5, when Hybrid Auth is used, does not verify X.509 certificates from security gateways, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof security gateways and obtain sensitive information via a crafted certificate.
  • CVE-2013-5140 : The kernel in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (assertion failure and device restart) via an invalid packet fragment.
  • CVE-2013-5141 : The kernel in Apple iOS before 7 uses an incorrect data size for a certain integer variable, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop and device hang) via a crafted application, related to an “integer truncation vulnerability.”
  • CVE-2011-2391 : The IPv6 implementation in the kernel in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via crafted ICMPv6 packets.
  • CVE-2013-5142 : The kernel in Apple iOS before 7 does not initialize unspecified kernel data structures, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel stack memory via the (1) msgctl API or (2) segctl API.
  • CVE-2013-3953 : The mach_port_space_info function in osfmk/ipc/mach_debug.c in the XNU kernel in Apple Mac OS X 10.8.x does not initialize a certain structure member, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel heap memory via a crafted call.
  • CVE-2013-3954 : The posix_spawn system call in the XNU kernel in Apple Mac OS X 10.8.x does not properly validate the data for file actions and port actions, which allows local users to (1) cause a denial of service (panic) via a size value that is inconsistent with a header count field, or (2) obtain sensitive information from kernel heap memory via a certain size value in conjunction with a crafted buffer.
  • CVE-2013-5145 : kextd in Kext Management in Apple iOS before 7 does not properly verify authorization for IPC messages, which allows local users to (1) load or (2) unload kernel extensions via a crafted message.
  • CVE-2011-3102, CVE-2012-0841, CVE-2012-2807, CVE-2012-5134 : Viewing a maliciously crafted web page may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Multiple memory corruption issues existed in libxml. These issues were addressed by updating libxml to version 2.9.0.
  • CVE-2012-2825, CVE-2012-2870, CVE-2012-2871 : Viewing a maliciously crafted web page may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Multiple memory corruption issues existed in libxslt. These issues were addressed by updating libxslt to version 1.1.28.
  • CVE-2013-5147 : Passcode Lock in Apple iOS before 7 does not properly manage the lock state, which allows physically proximate attackers to bypass an intended passcode requirement by leveraging a race condition involving phone calls and ejection of a SIM card.
  • CVE-2013-4616 : The WifiPasswordController generateDefaultPassword method in Preferences in Apple iOS 6 and earlier relies on the UITextChecker suggestWordInLanguage method for selection of Wi-Fi hotspot WPA2 PSK passphrases, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via a brute-force attack that leverages the insufficient number of possible passphrases.
  • CVE-2013-5149 : The Push Notifications subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 provides the push-notification token to an app without user approval, which allows attackers to obtain sensitive information via an app that employs a crafted push-notification registration process.
  • CVE-2013-1036 : Safari in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted XML document.
  • CVE-2013-5150 : The history-clearing feature in Safari in Apple iOS before 7 does not clear the back/forward history of an open tab, which allows physically proximate attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging an unattended workstation.
  • CVE-2013-5151 : Mobile Safari in Apple iOS before 7 does not prevent HTML interpretation of a document served with a text/plain content type, which allows remote attackers to conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by uploading a file.
  • CVE-2013-5152 : Mobile Safari in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to spoof the URL bar via a crafted web site.
  • CVE-2013-5154 : The Sandbox subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 determines the sandboxing requirement for a #! application on the basis of the script interpreter instead of the script, which allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via a crafted application.
  • CVE-2013-5155 : The Sandbox subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via an application that writes crafted values to /dev/random.
  • CVE-2013-5158 : The Social subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 does not properly restrict access to the cache of Twitter icons, which allows physically proximate attackers to obtain sensitive information about recent Twitter interaction via unspecified vectors.
  • CVE-2013-5153 : Springboard in Apple iOS before 7 does not properly manage the lock state in Lost Mode, which allows physically proximate attackers to read notifications via unspecified vectors.
  • CVE-2013-5156 : The Telephony subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 does not require API conformity for access to telephony-daemon interfaces, which allows attackers to bypass intended restrictions on phone calls via a crafted app that sends direct requests to the daemon.
  • CVE-2013-5157 : The Twitter subsystem in Apple iOS before 7 does not require API conformity for access to Twitter daemon interfaces, which allows attackers to post Tweets via a crafted app that sends direct requests to the daemon.
  • CVE-2013-0879, CVE-2013-0991, CVE-2013-0992, CVE-2013-0993, CVE-2013-0994, CVE-2013-0995, CVE-2013-0996, CVE-2013-0997, CVE-2013-0998, CVE-2013-0999, CVE-2013-1000, CVE-2013-1001, CVE-2013-1002, CVE-2013-1003, CVE-2013-1004, CVE-2013-1005, CVE-2013-1006, CVE-2013-1007, CVE-2013-1008, CVE-2013-1010, CVE-2013-1037, CVE-2013-1038, CVE-2013-1039, CVE-2013-1040, CVE-2013-1041, CVE-2013-1042, CVE-2013-1043, CVE-2013-1044, CVE-2013-1045, CVE-2013-1046, CVE-2013-1047, CVE-2013-2842, CVE-2013-5125, CVE-2013-5126, CVE-2013-5127, CVE-2013-5128 : Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Multiple memory corruption issues existed in WebKit. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
  • CVE-2013-5159 : WebKit in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and obtain potentially sensitive information about use of the window.webkitRequestAnimationFrame API via an IFRAME element.
  • CVE-2013-0926 : Copying and pasting a malicious HTML snippet may lead to a cross-site scripting attack. A cross-site scripting issue existed in the handling of copied and pasted data in HTML documents. This issue was addressed through additional validation of pasted content.
  • CVE-2013-1012 : Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WebKit in Apple Safari before 6.0.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors involving IFRAME elements.
  • CVE-2013-2848 : Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an information disclosure. An information disclosure issue existed in XSSAuditor. This issue was addressed through improved handling of URLs.
  • CVE-2013-5129 : Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in WebKit in Apple iOS before 7 allow user-assisted remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors involving a (1) drag-and-drop or (2) copy-and-paste operation.
  • CVE-2013-5131 : Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WebKit in Apple iOS before 7 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted URL.

Interestingly enough, history seems to be repeating itself as a new vulnerability was already found in iOS 7 that allows anyone to bypass its lockscreen in seconds to access photos, email and Twitter.

 

That said, it’s a good idea to update to iOS 7 immediately to avoid potential security issues as noted above. Apple iOS users can download and install the 728 MB update through iTunes or through your device Settings (select General > Software Update).