• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Stellantis probes data breach linked to third-party provider

 | 

FBI alerts public to spoofed IC3 site used in fraud schemes

 | 

EU agency ENISA says ransomware attack behind airport disruptions

 | 

Researchers expose MalTerminal, an LLM-enabled malware pioneer

 | 

Beware: GitHub repos distributing Atomic Infostealer on macOS

 | 

ESET uncovers Gamaredon–Turla collaboration in Ukraine cyberattacks

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 63

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 542 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

A cyberattack on Collins Aerospace disrupted operations at major European airports

 | 

Fortra addressed a maximum severity flaw in GoAnywhere MFT software

 | 

UK police arrested two teen Scattered Spider members linked to the 2024 attack on Transport for London

 | 

ShadowLeak: Radware Uncovers Zero-Click Attack on ChatGPT

 | 

SonicWall warns customers to reset credentials after MySonicWall backups were exposed

 | 

CVE-2025-10585 is the sixth actively exploited Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

Jaguar Land Rover will extend its production halt into a third week following a cyberattack

 | 

China-linked APT41 targets government, think tanks, and academics tied to US-China trade and policy

 | 

Microsoft and Cloudflare teamed up to dismantle the RaccoonO365 phishing service

 | 

DoJ resentenced former BreachForums admin to three years in prison

 | 

Apple backports fix for actively exploited CVE-2025-43300

 | 

New supply chain attack hits npm registry, compromising 40+ packages

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Mobile
  • Security
  • Apple App Store suffers its first large-scale attack

Apple App Store suffers its first large-scale attack

Pierluigi Paganini September 21, 2015

Researchers have spotted the first large-scale attack on Apple Store, attackers used XcodeGhost designed to inject malicious code into iOS and OS X apps.

Apple announced yesterday it is cleaning up the official iOS App Store to remove malicious iPhone and iPad applications, the company confirmed that this is the first large-scale attack on the official store that evaded the stringent app review process of the company.

“We’ve removed the apps from the App Store that we know have been created with this counterfeit software,” Apple spokeswoman Christine Monaghan said in an email. “We are working with the developers to make sure they’re using the proper version of Xcode to rebuild their apps.”

The cyber attack was reported by several cyber security firms that detected a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was used to “trojanize” hundreds of legitimate apps. The researchers confirmed that the attackers have infected several apps, including the popular mobile chat app WeChat and the music app from Internet portal NetEase.

The threat actors embedded the malicious code in these apps by deceiving developers and tricking them into use a bogus version of the Apple Xcode.

“The hackers embedded the malicious code in these apps by convincing developers of legitimate software to use a tainted, counterfeit version of Apple’s software for creating iOS and Mac apps, which is known as Xcode, Apple said.” reported the Reuters.

AppleFlaw

Palo Alto Networks is one of the firm that earlier detected the large-scale infection, its Director of Threat Intelligence Ryan Olson explained that the malicious code used by bad actors has limited functionality and at that his firm hasn’t observed a significant impact of the attack.

Anyway, what is happening is very serious, the event also demonstrates that the App Store could be used to serve malware on a large scale and there is the concrete risk of emulation for other attackers.

“Developers are now a huge target,” Olson added.

The researchers explained that the tainted version of Xcode was downloaded from a server in China, according to Olson, it is likely that developers used this specific server because it allowed for faster downloads than using Apple’s U.S. servers.

While Apple is cleaning the App Store, other security firms are working to identify other bogus applications, the Chinese security firm Qihoo360 Technology Co confirmed it had uncovered 344 apps tainted with XcodeGhost.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Apple Xcode, mobile)


facebook linkedin twitter

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini September 22, 2025
Stellantis probes data breach linked to third-party provider
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini September 22, 2025
FBI alerts public to spoofed IC3 site used in fraud schemes
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Stellantis probes data breach linked to third-party provider

    Data Breach / September 22, 2025

    FBI alerts public to spoofed IC3 site used in fraud schemes

    Cyber Crime / September 22, 2025

    EU agency ENISA says ransomware attack behind airport disruptions

    Security / September 22, 2025

    Researchers expose MalTerminal, an LLM-enabled malware pioneer

    Malware / September 22, 2025

    Beware: GitHub repos distributing Atomic Infostealer on macOS

    Malware / September 22, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT