CISA Warns of Active Exploitation Apple iOS and macOS Vulnerability

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday added a high-severity flaw impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-48618 (CVSS score: 7.8), concerns a bug in the kernel component. "An attacker with

Most Sophisticated iPhone Hack Ever Exploited Apple's Hidden Hardware Feature

The Operation Triangulation spyware attacks targeting Apple iOS devices leveraged never-before-seen exploits that made it possible to even bypass pivotal hardware-based security protections erected by the company. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which discovered the campaign at the beginning of 2023 after becoming one of the targets, described it as

Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws

Apple on Monday released security patches for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari web browser to address multiple security flaws, in addition to backporting fixes for two recently disclosed zero-days to older devices. This includes updates for 12 security vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS spanning AVEVideoEncoder, ExtensionKit, Find My, ImageIO, Kernel, Safari

New 5G Modem Flaws Affect iOS Devices and Android Models from Major Brands

A collection of security flaws in the firmware implementation of 5G mobile network modems from major chipset vendors such as MediaTek and Qualcomm impact USB and IoT modems as well as hundreds of smartphone models running Android and iOS. Of the 14 flaws – collectively called 5Ghoul (a combination of "5G" and "Ghoul") – 10 affect 5G modems from the two companies, out of which three

New Bluetooth Flaw Let Hackers Take Over Android, Linux, macOS, and iOS Devices

A critical Bluetooth security flaw could be exploited by threat actors to take control of Android, Linux, macOS and iOS devices. Tracked as CVE-2023-45866, the issue relates to a case of authentication bypass that enables attackers to connect to susceptible devices and inject keystrokes to achieve code execution as the victim. "Multiple Bluetooth stacks have authentication bypass

Warning for iPhone Users: Experts Warn of Sneaky Fake Lockdown Mode Attack

A new "post-exploitation tampering technique" can be abused by malicious actors to visually deceive a target into believing that their Apple iPhone is running in Lockdown Mode when it's actually not and carry out covert attacks. The novel method, detailed by Jamf Threat Labs in a report shared with The Hacker News, "shows that if a hacker has already infiltrated your device, they can

iOS Zero-Day Attacks: Experts Uncover Deeper Insights into Operation Triangulation

The TriangleDB implant used to target Apple iOS devices packs in at least four different modules to record microphone, extract iCloud Keychain, steal data from SQLite databases used by various apps, and estimate the victim's location. The new findings come from Kaspersky, which detailed the great lengths the adversary behind the campaign, dubbed Operation Triangulation, went to conceal and cover

Backdoor Implanted on Hacked Cisco Devices Modified to Evade Detection

The backdoor implanted on Cisco devices by exploiting a pair of zero-day flaws in IOS XE software has been modified by the threat actor so as to escape visibility via previous fingerprinting methods. "Investigated network traffic to a compromised device has shown that the threat actor has upgraded the implant to do an extra header check," NCC Group's Fox-IT team said. "Thus, for a lot of devices

Warning: Unpatched Cisco Zero-Day Vulnerability Actively Targeted in the Wild

Cisco has warned of a critical, unpatched security flaw impacting IOS XE software that’s under active exploitation in the wild. Rooted in the web UI feature, the zero-day vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-20198 and has been assigned the maximum severity rating of 10.0 on the CVSS scoring system. It’s worth pointing out that the shortcoming only affects enterprise networking gear that have the

PEACHPIT: Massive Ad Fraud Botnet Powered by Millions of Hacked Android and iOS

An ad fraud botnet dubbed PEACHPIT leveraged an army of hundreds of thousands of Android and iOS devices to generate illicit profits for the threat actors behind the scheme. The botnet is part of a larger China-based operation codenamed BADBOX, which also entails selling off-brand mobile and connected TV (CTV) devices on popular online retailers and resale sites that are backdoored with an 

Apple Rolls Out Security Patches for Actively Exploited iOS Zero-Day Flaw

Apple on Wednesday rolled out security patches to address a new zero-day flaw in iOS and iPadOS that it said has come under active exploitation in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-42824, the kernel vulnerability could be abused by a local attacker to elevate their privileges. The iPhone maker said it addressed the problem with improved checks. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have

Researchers Link DragonEgg Android Spyware to LightSpy iOS Surveillanceware

New findings have identified connections between an Android spyware called DragonEgg and another sophisticated modular iOS surveillanceware tool named LightSpy. DragonEgg, alongside WyrmSpy (aka AndroidControl), was first disclosed by Lookout in July 2023 as a strain of malware capable of gathering sensitive data from Android devices. It was attributed to the Chinese nation-state group APT41. On

Apple Rushes to Patch 3 New Zero-Day Flaws: iOS, macOS, Safari, and More Vulnerable

Apple has released yet another round of security patches to address three actively exploited zero-day flaws impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari, taking the total tally of zero-day bugs discovered in its software this year to 16. The list of security vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2023-41991 - A certificate validation issue in the Security framework that could allow a

Apple Rushes to Patch Zero-Day Flaws Exploited for Pegasus Spyware on iPhones

Apple on Thursday released emergency security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to address two zero-day flaws that have been exploited in the wild to deliver NSO Group's Pegasus mercenary spyware. The issues are described as below - CVE-2023-41061 - A validation issue in Wallet that could result in arbitrary code execution when handling a maliciously crafted attachment. CVE-2023-41064

Major Cybersecurity Agencies Collaborate to Unveil 2022's Most Exploited Vulnerabilities

A four-year-old critical security flaw impacting Fortinet FortiOS SSL has emerged as one of the most routinely and frequently exploited vulnerabilities in 2022. "In 2022, malicious cyber actors exploited older software vulnerabilities more frequently than recently disclosed vulnerabilities and targeted unpatched, internet-facing systems," cybersecurity and intelligence agencies from the Five

Fruity Trojan Uses Deceptive Software Installers to Spread Remcos RAT

Threat actors are creating fake websites hosting trojanized software installers to trick unsuspecting users into downloading a downloader malware called Fruity with the goal of installing remote trojans tools like Remcos RAT. "Among the software in question are various instruments for fine-tuning CPUs, graphic cards, and BIOS; PC hardware-monitoring tools; and some other apps," cybersecurity

Apple Rolls Out Urgent Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Impacting iPhones, iPads and Macs

Apple has rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari to address several security vulnerabilities, including one actively exploited zero-day bug in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-38606, the shortcoming resides in the kernel and permits a malicious app to modify sensitive kernel state potentially. The company said it was addressed with improved state management. "

Apple Issues Urgent Patch for Zero-Day Flaw Targeting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple has released Rapid Security Response updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The WebKit bug, cataloged as CVE-2023-37450, could allow threat actors to achieve arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. The iPhone maker said it addressed the issue with improved checks

New Report Exposes Operation Triangulation's Spyware Implant Targeting iOS Devices

More details have emerged about the spyware implant that's delivered to iOS devices as part of a campaign called Operation Triangulation. Kaspersky, which discovered the operation after becoming one of the targets at the start of the year, said the malware has a lifespan of 30 days, after which it gets automatically uninstalled unless the time period is extended by the attackers. The Russian

Critical FortiOS and FortiProxy Vulnerability Likely Exploited - Patch Now!

Fortinet on Monday disclosed that a newly patched critical flaw impacting FortiOS and FortiProxy may have been "exploited in a limited number of cases" in attacks targeting government, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure sectors. The vulnerability, dubbed XORtigate and tracked as CVE-2023-27997 (CVSS score: 9.2), concerns a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in FortiOS and

New Zero-Click Hack Targets iOS Users with Stealthy Root-Privilege Malware

A previously unknown advanced persistent threat (APT) is targeting iOS devices as part of a sophisticated and long-running mobile campaign dubbed Operation Triangulation that began in 2019. "The targets are infected using zero-click exploits via the iMessage platform, and the malware runs with root privileges, gaining complete control over the device and user data," Kaspersky said. The Russian

NSO Group Used 3 Zero-Click iPhone Exploits Against Human Rights Defenders

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group deployed at least three novel "zero-click" exploits against iPhones in 2022 to infiltrate defenses erected by Apple and deploy Pegasus, according to the latest findings from Citizen Lab. "NSO Group customers widely deployed at least three iOS 15 and iOS 16 zero-click exploit chains against civil society targets around the world," the interdisciplinary laboratory

Apple Releases Updates to Address Zero-Day Flaws in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple on Friday released security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address a pair of zero-day flaws that are being exploited in the wild. The two vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-28205 - A use after free issue in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. CVE-2023-28206 - An out-of-bounds write issue in

3CX Desktop App Supply Chain Attack Leaves Millions at Risk - Urgent Update on the Way!

3CX said it's working on a software update for its desktop app after multiple cybersecurity vendors sounded the alarm on what appears to be an active supply chain attack that's using digitally signed and rigged installers of the popular voice and video conferencing software to target downstream customers. "The trojanized 3CX desktop app is the first stage in a multi-stage attack chain that pulls

Spyware Vendors Caught Exploiting Zero-Day Vulnerabilities on Android and iOS Devices

A number of zero-day vulnerabilities that were addressed last year were exploited by commercial spyware vendors to target Android and iOS devices, Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has revealed. The two distinct campaigns were both limited and highly targeted, taking advantage of the patch gap between the release of a fix and when it was actually deployed on the targeted devices. The scale of

Chinese Hackers Exploit Fortinet Zero-Day Flaw for Cyber Espionage Attack

The zero-day exploitation of a now-patched medium-severity security flaw in the Fortinet FortiOS operating system has been linked to a suspected Chinese hacking group. American cybersecurity company Mandiant, which made the attribution, said the activity cluster is part of a broader campaign designed to deploy backdoors onto Fortinet and VMware solutions and maintain persistent access to victim

Fortinet FortiOS Flaw Exploited in Targeted Cyberattacks on Government Entities

Government entities and large organizations have been targeted by an unknown threat actor by exploiting a security flaw in Fortinet FortiOS software to result in data loss and OS and file corruption. "The complexity of the exploit suggests an advanced actor and that it is highly targeted at governmental or government-related targets," Fortinet researchers Guillaume Lovet and Alex Kong said in an

New Critical Flaw in FortiOS and FortiProxy Could Give Hackers Remote Access

Fortinet has released fixes to address 15 security flaws, including one critical vulnerability impacting FortiOS and FortiProxy that could enable a threat actor to take control of affected systems. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-25610, is rated 9.3 out of 10 for severity and was internally discovered and reported by its security teams. "A buffer underwrite ('buffer underflow') vulnerability in

Fortinet Issues Patches for 40 Flaws Affecting FortiWeb, FortiOS, FortiNAC, and FortiProxy

Fortinet has released security updates to address 40 vulnerabilities in its software lineup, including FortiWeb, FortiOS, FortiNAC, and FortiProxy, among others. Two of the 40 flaws are rated Critical, 15 are rated High, 22 are rated Medium, and one is rated Low in severity. Top of the list is a severe bug residing in the FortiNAC network access control solution (CVE-2022-39952, CVSS score: 9.8)

Patch Now: Apple's iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari Under Attack with New Zero-Day Flaw

Apple on Monday rolled out security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari to address a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-23529, the issue relates to a type confusion bug in the WebKit browser engine that could be activated when processing maliciously crafted web content, culminating in arbitrary code execution. The iPhone maker said the

Chinese Hackers Exploited Recent Fortinet Flaw as 0-Day to Drop Malware

A suspected China-nexus threat actor exploited a recently patched vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS SSL-VPN as a zero-day in attacks targeting a European government entity and a managed service provider (MSP) located in Africa. Telemetry evidence gathered by Google-owned Mandiant indicates that the exploitation occurred as early as October 2022, at least nearly two months before fixes were

FortiOS Flaw Exploited as Zero-Day in Attacks on Government and Organizations

A zero-day vulnerability in FortiOS SSL-VPN that Fortinet addressed last month was exploited by unknown actors in attacks targeting governments and other large organizations. "The complexity of the exploit suggests an advanced actor and that it is highly targeted at governmental or government-related targets," Fortinet researchers said in a post-mortem analysis published this week. The attacks

WhatsApp Introduces Proxy Support to Help Users Bypass Internet Censorship

Popular instant messaging service WhatsApp has launched support for proxy servers in the latest version of its Android and iOS apps, letting users circumvent government-imposed censorship and internet shutdowns. "Choosing a proxy enables you to connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world dedicated to helping people communicate freely," the

Qualcomm Chipsets and Lenovo BIOS Get Security Updates to Fix Multiple Flaws

Qualcomm on Tuesday released patches to address multiple security flaws in its chipsets, some of which could be exploited to cause information disclosure and memory corruption. The five vulnerabilities -- tracked from CVE-2022-40516 through CVE-2022-40520 -- also impact Lenovo ThinkPad X13s laptops, prompting the Chinese PC maker to issue BIOS updates to plug the security holes. The list of

New Actively Exploited Zero-Day Vulnerability Discovered in Apple Products

Apple on Tuesday rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and Safari web browser to address a new zero-day vulnerability that could result in the execution of malicious code. Tracked as CVE-2022-42856, the issue has been described by the tech giant as a type confusion issue in the WebKit browser engine that could be triggered when processing specially crafted content, leading to

Fortinet Warns of Active Exploitation of New SSL-VPN Pre-auth RCE Vulnerability

Fortinet on Monday issued emergency patches for a severe security flaw affecting its FortiOS SSL-VPN product that it said is being actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2022-42475 (CVSS score: 9.3), the critical bug relates to a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted requests. The company said

New Flaw in Acer Laptops Could Let Attackers Disable Secure Boot Protection

Acer has released a firmware update to address a security vulnerability that could be potentially weaponized to turn off UEFI Secure Boot on affected machines. Tracked as CVE-2022-4020, the high-severity vulnerability affects five different models that consist of Aspire A315-22, A115-21, and A315-22G, and Extensa EX215-21 and EX215-21G. <!--adsense--> The PC maker described the vulnerability as

New UEFI Firmware Flaws Reported in Several Lenovo Notebook Models

PC maker Lenovo has addressed yet another set of three shortcomings in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware affecting several Yoga, IdeaPad, and ThinkBook devices. "The vulnerabilities allow disabling UEFI Secure Boot or restoring factory default Secure Boot databases (incl. dbx): all simply from an OS," Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET explained in a series of tweets. UEFI

Apple iOS and macOS Flaw Could've Let Apps Eavesdrop on Your Conversations with Siri

A now-patched security flaw in Apple's iOS and macOS operating systems could have potentially enabled apps with Bluetooth access to eavesdrop on conversations with Siri. Apple said "an app may be able to record audio using a pair of connected AirPods," adding it addressed the Core Bluetooth issue in iOS 16.1 with improved entitlements. Credited with discovering and reporting the bug in August

Apple Releases Patch for New Actively Exploited iOS and iPadOS Zero-Day Vulnerability

Tech giant Apple on Monday rolled out updates to remediate a zero-day flaw in iOS and iPadOS that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The weakness, given the identifier CVE-2022-42827, has been described as an out-of-bounds write issue in the Kernel, which could be abused by a rogue application to execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges. Successful exploitation of

PoC Exploit Released for Critical Fortinet Auth Bypass Bug Under Active Attacks

A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code has been made available for the recently disclosed critical security flaw affecting Fortinet FortiOS, FortiProxy, and FortiSwitchManager, making it imperative that users move quickly to apply the patches. "FortiOS exposes a management web portal that allows a user to configure the system," Horizon3.ai researcher James Horseman said. "Additionally, a user can

Facebook Detects 400 Android and iOS Apps Stealing Users Log-in Credentials

Meta Platforms on Friday disclosed that it had identified over 400 malicious apps on Android and iOS that it said targeted online users with the goal of stealing their Facebook login information. "These apps were listed on the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store and disguised as photo editors, games, VPN services, business apps, and other utilities to trick people into downloading them," the

Apple Releases iOS and macOS Updates to Patch Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaw

Apple has released another round of security updates to address multiple vulnerabilities in iOS and macOS, including a new zero-day flaw that has been used in attacks in the wild. The issue, assigned the identifier CVE-2022-32917, is rooted in the Kernel component and could enable a malicious app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may

Over 1,800 Android and iOS Apps Found Leaking Hard-Coded AWS Credentials

Researchers have identified 1,859 apps across Android and iOS containing hard-coded Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials, posing a major security risk. "Over three-quarters (77%) of the apps contained valid AWS access tokens allowing access to private AWS cloud services," Symantec's Threat Hunter team, a part of Broadcom Software, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Interestingly, a

Apple Releases iOS Update for Older iPhones to Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerability

Apple on Wednesday backported security updates to older iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices to address a critical security flaw that has been actively exploited in the wild. The shortcoming, tracked as CVE-2022-32893 (CVSS score: 8.8), is an out-of-bounds write issue affecting WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content. WebKit is the

Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Two New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Apple on Wednesday released security updates for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS platforms to remediate two zero-day vulnerabilities previously exploited by threat actors to compromise its devices. The list of issues is below - CVE-2022-32893 - An out-of-bounds issue in WebKit which could lead to the execution of arbitrary code by processing a specially crafted web content CVE-2022-32894 - An

Researchers Uncover UEFI Secure Boot Bypass in 3 Microsoft Signed Boot Loaders

A security feature bypass vulnerability has been uncovered in three signed third-party Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot loaders that allow bypass of the UEFI Secure Boot feature. "These vulnerabilities can be exploited by mounting the EFI System Partition and replacing the existing bootloader with the vulnerable one, or modifying a UEFI variable to load the vulnerable loader

Experts Uncover New 'CosmicStrand' UEFI Firmware Rootkit Used by Chinese Hackers

An unknown Chinese-speaking threat actor has been attributed to a new kind of sophisticated Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware rootkit called CosmicStrand. "The rootkit is located in the firmware images of Gigabyte or ASUS motherboards, and we noticed that all these images are related to designs using the H81 chipset," Kaspersky researchers said in a new report published today

Apple Releases Security Patches for all Devices Fixing Dozens of New Vulnerabilities

Apple on Wednesday rolled out software fixes for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS to address a number of security flaws affecting its platforms. This includes at least 37 flaws spanning different components in iOS and macOS that range from privilege escalation to arbitrary code execution and from information disclosure to denial-of-service (DoS). <!--adsense--> Chief among them is CVE-2022-

Apple's New "Lockdown Mode" Protects iPhone, iPad, and Mac Against Spyware

Apple on Wednesday announced it plans to introduce an enhanced security setting called Lockdown Mode in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura to safeguard high-risk users against "highly targeted cyberattacks." The "extreme, optional protection" feature, now available for preview in beta versions of its upcoming software, is designed to counter a surge in threats posed by private companies

Google Researchers Detail 5-Year-Old Apple Safari Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild

A security flaw in Apple Safari that was exploited in the wild earlier this year was originally fixed in 2013 and reintroduced in December 2016, according to a new report from Google Project Zero. The issue, tracked as CVE-2022-22620 (CVSS score: 8.8), concerns a case of a use-after-free vulnerability in the WebKit component that could be exploited by a piece of specially crafted web content to

Researchers Uncover 'Hermit' Android Spyware Used in Kazakhstan, Syria, and Italy

An enterprise-grade surveillanceware dubbed Hermit has been put to use by entities operating from within Kazakhstan, Syria, and Italy over the years since 2019, new research has revealed. Lookout attributed the spy software, which is equipped to target both Android and iOS, to an Italian company named RCS Lab S.p.A and Tykelab Srl, a telecom services provider which it suspects to be a front

Chinese Hackers Distribute Backdoored Web3 Wallets for iOS and Android Users

A technically sophisticated threat actor known as SeaFlower has been targeting Android and iOS users as part of an extensive campaign that mimics official cryptocurrency wallet websites intending to distribute backdoored apps that drain victims' funds. Said to be first discovered in March 2022, the cluster of activity "hint[s] to a strong relationship with a Chinese-speaking entity yet to be

Apple's New Feature Will Install Security Updates Automatically Without Full OS Update

Apple has introduced a Rapid Security Response feature in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura that's designed to deploy security fixes without the need for a full operating system version update. "macOS security gets even stronger with new tools that make the Mac more resistant to attack, including Rapid Security Response that works in between normal updates to easily keep security up to date without a

Cisco Issues Patch for New IOS XR Zero-Day Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild

Cisco on Friday rolled out fixes for a medium-severity vulnerability affecting IOS XR Software that it said has been exploited in real-world attacks. Tracked as CVE-2022-20821 (CVSS score: 6.5), the issue relates to an open port vulnerability that could be abused by an unauthenticated, remote attacker to connect to a Redis instance and achieve code execution. "A successful exploit could allow