Apple fixed 2 WebKit flaws exploited to target older iPhones

Apple released an out-of-band iOS update for older iPhones and iPads and warned that threat actors are actively exploiting two flaws in WebKit.

Apple released an out-of-band iOS update ( iOS 12.5.4 patch) for older iPhones and iPad, the IT giant also warned that some vulnerabilities affecting its WebKit may have been actively exploited.

WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as all iOS web browsers.

Apple did not share details of the attacks that targeted older models of Apple iPhone devices.

The iOS 12.5.4 patch addressed at least three vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threat actors to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable devices.

Two of the addressed issues, tracked CVE-2021-30761 and CVE-2021-30762, are memory corruption and use-after-free issues respectively and reside in the WebKit rendering engine. The two flaws could be exploited by tricking owners of devices running iOS 12 into visiting specially crafted web content.

“Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.” reads the security advisory published by Apple.

The iOS 12.5.4 fixes the flaws in iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). Both issues were reported by an anonymous researcher.

The iOS 12.5.4 also addressed a memory corruption issue in the ASN.1 decoder tracked as CVE-2021-30737. The flaw can be exploited by processing a maliciously crafted certificate to lead to arbitrary code execution.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, iPhones)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.