Vulnerabilities > CVE-2018-4100 - Resource Exhaustion vulnerability in Apple Iphone OS

047910
CVSS 7.5 - HIGH
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
NONE
Integrity impact
NONE
Availability impact
HIGH
network
low complexity
apple
CWE-400
nessus
NVD
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2024-11-21

Summary

An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 11.2.5 is affected. macOS before 10.13.3 is affected. watchOS before 4.2.2 is affected. The issue involves the "LinkPresentation" component. It allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via a crafted text message.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
OS
Apple
328

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • XML Ping of the Death
    An attacker initiates a resource depletion attack where a large number of small XML messages are delivered at a sufficiently rapid rate to cause a denial of service or crash of the target. Transactions such as repetitive SOAP transactions can deplete resources faster than a simple flooding attack because of the additional resources used by the SOAP protocol and the resources necessary to process SOAP messages. The transactions used are immaterial as long as they cause resource utilization on the target. In other words, this is a normal flooding attack augmented by using messages that will require extra processing on the target.
  • XML Entity Expansion
    An attacker submits an XML document to a target application where the XML document uses nested entity expansion to produce an excessively large output XML. XML allows the definition of macro-like structures that can be used to simplify the creation of complex structures. However, this capability can be abused to create excessive demands on a processor's CPU and memory. A small number of nested expansions can result in an exponential growth in demands on memory.
  • Inducing Account Lockout
    An attacker leverages the security functionality of the system aimed at thwarting potential attacks to launch a denial of service attack against a legitimate system user. Many systems, for instance, implement a password throttling mechanism that locks an account after a certain number of incorrect log in attempts. An attacker can leverage this throttling mechanism to lock a legitimate user out of their own account. The weakness that is being leveraged by an attacker is the very security feature that has been put in place to counteract attacks.
  • Violating Implicit Assumptions Regarding XML Content (aka XML Denial of Service (XDoS))
    XML Denial of Service (XDoS) can be applied to any technology that utilizes XML data. This is, of course, most distributed systems technology including Java, .Net, databases, and so on. XDoS is most closely associated with web services, SOAP, and Rest, because remote service requesters can post malicious XML payloads to the service provider designed to exhaust the service provider's memory, CPU, and/or disk space. The main weakness in XDoS is that the service provider generally must inspect, parse, and validate the XML messages to determine routing, workflow, security considerations, and so on. It is exactly these inspection, parsing, and validation routines that XDoS targets. There are three primary attack vectors that XDoS can navigate Target CPU through recursion: attacker creates a recursive payload and sends to service provider Target memory through jumbo payloads: service provider uses DOM to parse XML. DOM creates in memory representation of XML document, but when document is very large (for example, north of 1 Gb) service provider host may exhaust memory trying to build memory objects. XML Ping of death: attack service provider with numerous small files that clog the system. All of the above attacks exploit the loosely coupled nature of web services, where the service provider has little to no control over the service requester and any messages the service requester sends.

Nessus

  • NASL familyMacOS X Local Security Checks
    NASL idMACOS_10_13_3.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is running a version of Mac OS X that is 10.13.x prior to 10.13.3. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities in the following components : - Audio - curl - IOHIDFamily - Kernel - LinkPresentation - QuartzCore - Sandbox - Security - WebKit - Wi-Fi Note that successful exploitation of the most serious issues can result in arbitrary code execution.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id106296
    published2018-01-24
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/106296
    titlemacOS 10.13.x < 10.13.3 Multiple Vulnerabilities
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(106296);
  script_version("1.10");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/06/19 15:17:43");

  script_cve_id(
    "CVE-2017-13889",
    "CVE-2017-5705",
    "CVE-2017-5708",
    "CVE-2017-7830",
    "CVE-2017-8816",
    "CVE-2017-8817",
    "CVE-2018-4082",
    "CVE-2018-4083",
    "CVE-2018-4084",
    "CVE-2018-4085",
    "CVE-2018-4086",
    "CVE-2018-4088",
    "CVE-2018-4089",
    "CVE-2018-4090",
    "CVE-2018-4091",
    "CVE-2018-4092",
    "CVE-2018-4093",
    "CVE-2018-4094",
    "CVE-2018-4096",
    "CVE-2018-4097",
    "CVE-2018-4098",
    "CVE-2018-4100",
    "CVE-2018-4147",
    "CVE-2018-4169",
    "CVE-2018-4189"
  );
  script_bugtraq_id(
    101832,
    101917,
    101921,
    101998,
    102057,
    102772,
    102775,
    102778,
    102782,
    102785,
    103330
  );
  script_name(english:"macOS 10.13.x < 10.13.3 Multiple Vulnerabilities");
  script_summary(english:"Checks the version of Mac OS X / macOS.");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The remote host is missing a macOS update that fixes multiple security
vulnerabilities.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The remote host is running a version of Mac OS X that is 10.13.x
prior to 10.13.3. It is, therefore, affected by multiple
vulnerabilities in the following components :

  - Audio
  - curl
  - IOHIDFamily
  - Kernel
  - LinkPresentation
  - QuartzCore
  - Sandbox
  - Security
  - WebKit
  - Wi-Fi

Note that successful exploitation of the most serious issues can
result in arbitrary code execution.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208465");
  # https://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2018/Jan/msg00001.html
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?19644313");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Upgrade to macOS version 10.13.3 or later.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:POC/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2018-4189");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/01/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/01/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/01/24");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"combined");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:mac_os_x");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:macos");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"MacOS X Local Security Checks");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl", "os_fingerprint.nasl");
  script_require_ports("Host/MacOSX/Version", "Host/OS");

  exit(0);
}

include("audit.inc");
include("global_settings.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

os = get_kb_item("Host/MacOSX/Version");
if (!os)
{
  os = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/OS");
  if ("Mac OS X" >!< os) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS / Mac OS X");

  c = get_kb_item("Host/OS/Confidence");
  if (c <= 70) exit(1, "Can't determine the host's OS with sufficient confidence.");
}
if (!os) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS / Mac OS X");

matches = pregmatch(pattern:"Mac OS X ([0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)", string:os);
if (empty_or_null(matches)) exit(1, "Failed to parse the macOS / Mac OS X version ('" + os + "').");

version = matches[1];
fixed_version = "10.13.3";

if (version !~"^10\.13($|[^0-9])")
  audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "macOS 10.13.x");

if (ver_compare(ver:version, fix:'10.13.3', strict:FALSE) == -1)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port:0,
    severity:SECURITY_HOLE,
    extra:
      '\n  Installed version : ' + version +
      '\n  Fixed version     : ' + fixed_version +
      '\n'
  );
}
else audit(AUDIT_INST_VER_NOT_VULN, "macOS / Mac OS X", version);
  • NASL familyMacOS X Local Security Checks
    NASL idMACOSX_SECUPD2018-001.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is running Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6 and is missing a security update. It is therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities affecting the following components : - Audio - curl - IOHIDFamily - Kernel - LinkPresentation - QuartzCore - Sandbox - Security - WebKit - Wi-Fi
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id106297
    published2018-01-24
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/106297
    titlemacOS and Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities (Security Update 2018-001) (Meltdown)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(106297);
  script_version("1.10");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/06/19 15:17:43");

  script_cve_id(
    "CVE-2017-5705",
    "CVE-2017-5708",
    "CVE-2017-5754",
    "CVE-2018-4083",
    "CVE-2018-4084",
    "CVE-2018-4085",
    "CVE-2018-4086",
    "CVE-2018-4094",
    "CVE-2018-4097",
    "CVE-2018-4098",
    "CVE-2018-4100",
    "CVE-2018-4189",
    "CVE-2018-4298"
  );
  script_bugtraq_id(
    101917,
    101921,
    102378,
    102772,
    102782,
    102785,
    103330
  );
  script_xref(name:"IAVA", value:"2018-A-0019");

  script_name(english:"macOS and Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities (Security Update 2018-001) (Meltdown)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks for the presence of Security Update 2017-002 / 2017-005.");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"The remote host is missing a macOS or Mac OS X security update that
fixes multiple vulnerabilities.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"The remote host is running Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6 and is
missing a security update. It is therefore, affected by multiple
vulnerabilities affecting the following components :

  - Audio
  - curl
  - IOHIDFamily
  - Kernel
  - LinkPresentation
  - QuartzCore
  - Sandbox
  - Security
  - WebKit
  - Wi-Fi");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208465");
  # https://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2018/Jan/msg00001.html
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?19644313");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Install Security Update 2018-001 or later for 10.11.x or
Security Update 2018-001 or later for 10.12.x.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:H/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:H/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2018-4189");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"Exploits are available");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"true");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploited_by_malware", value:"true");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/01/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/01/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2018/01/24");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:mac_os_x");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:apple:macos");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"stig_severity", value:"I");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"MacOS X Local Security Checks");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2018-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/MacOSX/Version", "Host/MacOSX/packages/boms");

  exit(0);
}

include("audit.inc");
include("global_settings.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

# Compare 2 patch numbers to determine if patch requirements are satisfied.
# Return true if this patch or a later patch is applied
# Return false otherwise
function check_patch(year, number)
{
  local_var p_split = split(patch, sep:"-");
  local_var p_year  = int( p_split[0]);
  local_var p_num   = int( p_split[1]);

  if (year >  p_year) return TRUE;
  else if (year <  p_year) return FALSE;
  else if (number >=  p_num) return TRUE;
  else return FALSE;
}

get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/local_checks_enabled");
os = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/MacOSX/Version");

if (!preg(pattern:"Mac OS X 10\.(11\.6|12\.6)([^0-9]|$)", string:os))
  audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Mac OS X 10.11.6 or Mac OS X 10.12.6");

if ("10.11.6" >< os)
  patch = "2018-001";
else
  patch = "2018-001";

packages = get_kb_item_or_exit("Host/MacOSX/packages/boms", exit_code:1);
sec_boms_report = pgrep(
  pattern:"^com\.apple\.pkg\.update\.(security\.|os\.SecUpd).*bom$",
  string:packages
);
sec_boms = split(sec_boms_report, sep:'\n');

foreach package (sec_boms)
{
  # Grab patch year and number
  matches = pregmatch(pattern:"[^0-9](20[0-9][0-9])[-.]([0-9]{3})[^0-9]", string:package);
  if (empty_or_null(matches)) continue;
  if (empty_or_null(matches[1]) || empty_or_null(matches[2]))
    continue;

  patch_found = check_patch(year:int(matches[1]), number:int(matches[2]));
  if (patch_found) exit(0, "The host has Security Update " + patch + " or later installed and is therefore not affected.");
}

report =  '\n  Missing security update : ' + patch;
report += '\n  Installed security BOMs : ';
if (sec_boms_report) report += str_replace(find:'\n', replace:'\n                            ', string:sec_boms_report);
else report += 'n/a';
report += '\n';

security_report_v4(port:0, severity:SECURITY_HOLE, extra:report);

References