As per The Register, Six university researchers have revealed deadly zero-day flaws in Apple’s iOS and OS X, claiming it is possible to crack Apple’s password-storing keychain, break app sandboxes, and bypass its App Store security checks. Attackers can exploit these bugs to steal passwords from installed apps, including the native email client, without being detected.
Also it says on this Zero day flaw:
“Keychains raided, sandboxes busted, passwords p0wned, but Apple silent for six months”
According to the researchers team, they were able to upload malware to Apple’s app stores, and passed the vetting processes without triggering any alarms. That malware, when installed on a victim’s Mac, raided the keychain to steal passwords for services including iCloud and the Mail app, and all those stored within Google Chrome.
“Our malicious apps successfully went through Apple’s vetting process and was published on Apple’s Mac app store and iOS app store.
“We completely cracked the keychain service – used to store passwords and other credentials for different Apple apps – and sandbox containers on OS X, and also identified new weaknesses within the inter-app communication mechanisms on OS X and iOS which can be used to steal confidential data from Evernote, Facebook and other high-profile apps.”
Lead researcher Luyi Xing told El Reg he and his team complied with Apple’s request to withhold publication of the research for six months, but had not heard back as of the time of writing.
They say the holes are still present in Apple’s software, meaning their work will likely be consumed by miscreants looking to weaponize the work.
Further more, Apple was not available for immediate comment on this matter.
For more information you can head over to this link at The Register and read the complete technical document published.