Overview
Apple has released patches to fix three zero-day vulnerabilities that have been disclosed by Google’ Project Zero researchers. The patched vulnerabilities are critical and thought to be exploited actively in the wild.
Description
Exploiting the vulnerabilities in combination could allow cyber criminals to steal personal information, capture logging keystrokes, share location data or take over the camera or microphone etc. to name a few. Researchers also revealed that all three vulnerabilities were used as part of an exploit chain that allowed attackers to compromise iOS devices.
The first vulnerability (CVE-2020-27930) is a Remote Code Execution type vulnerability. This vulnerability stems from improper input validation and could be triggered by the processing of a maliciously crafted font prepared by remote attackers. The flaw has been fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, watchOS 7.1, iOS 12.4.9, watchOS 6.2.9, Security Update 2020-006 High Sierra, Security Update 2020-006 Mojave, iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2, watchOS 5.3.9, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update.
The second vulnerability (CVE-2020-27932) is an Elevation of Privilege type vulnerability. Exploiting the flaw, a malicious application could execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The flaw has been fixed in This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, watchOS 7.1, iOS 12.4.9, watchOS 6.2.9, Security Update 2020-006 High Sierra, Security Update 2020-006 Mojave, iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2, watchOS 5.3.9, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update.
The last vulnerability (CVE-2020-27950) is an Information Disclosure type vulnerability that stems from a memory initialization issue. The flaw could be exploited by attacker via creating a malicious application to disclose kernel memory. The flaw has been fixed in This issue is fixed in macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, watchOS 7.1, iOS 12.4.9, watchOS 6.2.9, Security Update 2020-006 High Sierra, Security Update 2020-006 Mojave, iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2, watchOS 5.3.9, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update, macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update.
Impact
An attacker can conduct arbitrary code execution via a maliciously crafted font.
Impact Summary CVE-2020-27930
Category: Remote Code Execution
CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.8 High
CVSS 3.1 Vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
An attacker can conduct arbitrary code execution via a malicious payload.
Impact Summary CVE-2020-27932
Category: Elevation of Privilege
CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.8 High
CVSS 3.1 Vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
An attacker can disclose kernel memory by crafting a malicious application.
Impact Summary CVE-2020-27950
Category: Information Disclosure
CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 5.5 Medium
CVSS 3.1 Vector: AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Solution (Patch/Workaround)
Since the revealed zero-day vulnerabilities are highly critical, users of the affected Apple devices are advised to apply the updates immediately if automatic updates are not enabled on their devices.
One single vulnerability all an attacker needs.
Window Snyder
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References to Advisories, Solutions and Tools
- https://nvd.nist.gov (CVE-2020-27930)
- https://nvd.nist.gov (CVE-2020-27950)
- https://nvd.nist.gov (CVE-2020-27932)
To learn more about security vulnerabilities, you could also read our articles What is a Security Vulnerability? or What is Vulnerability Scanning?
