CVE-2025-24160: Addressing Security Vulnerability in Multiple Apple Operating Systems with Improved Checks

CVE-2025-24160 is a security vulnerability affecting multiple Apple operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The issue was addressed with improved checks to prevent unexpected app termination when parsing certain files. This post provides details on the vulnerability, the affected operating systems and their versions, as well as code snippets demonstrating the vulnerability. Links to original references for further information are also included.

Introduction

In this long read post, we will be discussing the security vulnerability CVE-2025-24160, which affects several Apple operating systems such as iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Unauthorized individuals could exploit this vulnerability, which may lead to unexpected app termination when parsing specific files. This issue has been fixed and addressed, thanks to improved checks. Patches are available in the following versions of the affected Apple devices:

Exploit details

The vulnerability occurs when an application on the affected operating system parses or processes a specially crafted file. The insufficient checks in the original implementation can lead to unexpected app termination. Such malicious files, embedded in seemingly harmless webpages, emails, or downloads, represent a potential security threat.

While the specifics of the vulnerability's exploitation are beyond the scope of this post, the following code snippet demonstrates a potential scenario:

// Sample code snippet demonstrating vulnerable file parsing

void parseVulnerableFile(char *filename) {
    FILE *file = fopen(filename, "rb");

    if (file == NULL) {
        printf("Error: Unable to open file %s.\n", filename);
        return;
    }

    // Vulnerable parsing code
    char buffer[1024];
    while (fread(buffer, 1, 1024, file) > ) {
        processFileData(buffer); // The insufficient checks occur within this function
    }
    
    fclose(file);
}

Fixed in operating system versions

The vulnerability was identified, and improved checks have been implemented. These are available in the following versions of the Apple operating systems:

- iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3: Update release notes
- macOS Sonoma 14.7.3: Update release notes
- macOS Sequoia 15.3: Update release notes
- watchOS 11.3: Update release notes
- tvOS 18.3: Update release notes
- visionOS 2.3: Update release notes

Users are urged to update their operating systems immediately to prevent potential exploitation of this vulnerability.

Conclusion

CVE-2025-24160 is a security vulnerability that affects multiple Apple operating systems. Thanks to the diligence of security researchers, the issue was identified and addressed promptly with improved checks. Users are encouraged to update their devices to the latest version to ensure the security of their devices and data.

Timeline

Published on: 01/27/2025 22:15:19 UTC
Last modified on: 01/28/2025 16:15:44 UTC