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Imagine being able to hack all the iPhones around you in minutes, if not seconds. Well, that’s what a Google security researcher accomplished after discovering a terrifying vulnerability in Apple’s iOS.
On Tuesday, Ian Beer went public with the flaw, which was thankfully fixed in May. “Using a single vulnerability, I was able to hack into any nearby iOS device and gain access to photos, emails, private messages, and more, all without the user knowing,” he wrote in a cheep.
Beer uploaded a video demonstrating the attack, which he describes as a magic spell. Using a laptop connected to two Wi-Fi adapters and a Raspberry Pi, it sends malicious code to a bundle of nearby iPhones, forcing them to reboot.
The cause of the defect? Blame Apple’s Wireless Direct Link (AWDL) feature, which Beer says is enabled by default. The technology works as a mesh network protocol that Apple devices can use to communicate with each other over Wi-Fi.
However, the same protocol contained a buffer overflow bug, allowing Beer to gain read and write privileges to an iPhone’s memory. In a 30,000-word blog post, he dives into how he spent six months studying the flaw and devising a way to attack it. In the end, he found a way to activate the AWDL feature on nearby iPhones using Bluetooth, which allowed him to exploit the vulnerability over Wi-Fi.
What makes the attack even more disturbing is how it can bypass all the security protections that Apple built into iOS. “With a little proper engineering and better hardware, once AWDL is enabled, the entire exploit could be executed in a few seconds,” he added.
The good news is that Beer has discovered no evidence that hackers have exploited the vulnerability in the real world. Still, Google’s security researcher cautions that the entire incident underscores how terrifying vulnerabilities can lurk inside any major consumer device.
“My prototype exploit accesses the memory of any nearby iPhone in just seconds; imagine launching the feat from a drone flying through a protest, “he added in a cheep.
As a result, it is imperative that the tech industry examine its products for security flaws or risk an unknown vulnerability falling into the wrong hands. “As things stand now in November 2020, I think it is still quite possible for a motivated attacker with a single vulnerability to build a strange machine powerful enough to completely and remotely compromise high-end iPhones,” Beer wrote.
In a statement, Apple noted that the vulnerability was patched in iOS 13.5. The company also notes that a vast majority of users keep their software up-to-date, ensuring that their devices are quickly protected from recently found vulnerabilities. Also, Beer’s attack could only have been carried out on iPhones within Wi-Fi range.
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