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CVE-2024-54499 is a critical use-after-free vulnerability residing in the ImageIO framework of Apple’s macOS. The flaw manifests when the system processes a maliciously crafted image file, leading to a memory corruption condition where a program continues to reference memory after it has been freed. This specific vulnerability is classified under CWE-416, which describes the use of previously freed memory, a class of bugs that can result in program crashes, unexpected value usage, or arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects macOS versions up to 18.1, encompassing a wide range of Apple’s operating system releases prior to the patched versions. The root cause involves improper memory management within the image handling routines, where the system fails to properly track the lifecycle of allocated memory blocks. When an application attempts to process a specially designed image, the ImageIO component may free a memory region but subsequently access it again, creating a window of opportunity for an attacker. This use-after-free condition can be exploited to achieve remote code execution, as the attacker can potentially control the contents of the freed memory, redirecting execution flow to malicious code. The attack vector is remote, requiring the victim to open or process a malicious image file, but it does not require any authentication. The exploitation complexity is considered low, as the vulnerability can be triggered through user interaction with a crafted image, such as opening it in Preview, Safari, or any application that utilizes ImageIO for image processing. Apple addressed this vulnerability with improved memory management, releasing fixes in iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, macOS Sequoia 15.2, tvOS 18.2, visionOS 2.2, and watchOS 11.2. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on December 3, 2024, and assigned CVE-2024-54499. The CVSS v3.1 score for this vulnerability is 7.6, indicating a high severity level. The impact of successful exploitation includes compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. The technical details of the vulnerability are not fully public, and no exploit code is currently available, though the potential for exploitation is significant given the critical nature of the flaw. The vulnerability is documented in various security databases, including CERT Bund and VulDB, and is tracked as WID-SEC-2024-3692. The affected component, ImageIO, is a core framework used across many macOS applications, making the attack surface broad. The use-after-free condition can be triggered by a variety of image formats, as the flaw is in the generic image handling code rather than a specific format parser. The exploitation process typically involves heap grooming to control the freed memory, followed by triggering the reuse of that memory with attacker-controlled data. The vulnerability was discovered and reported by an anonymous researcher, and Apple has credited the finder in their security advisory. The patch for this vulnerability is included in the macOS Sequoia 15.2 update, which was released on December 11, 2024. Users are strongly advised to update to the latest version to mitigate the risk. The vulnerability highlights the ongoing challenges in securing complex image processing pipelines, where memory safety issues can have severe consequences.
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: macOS
Version: Sequoia 15.2
Vulnerability: Use-After-Free
Severity: Critical
date: 2024-12-11
Prediction: 2024-12-11
What Undercode Say:
Query SOFA feed for CVE-2024-54499 related information
curl -s https://sofafeed.macadmins.io/v1/macos_data_feed.json | jq '.OSVersions[] | select(.SecurityReleases[]?.CVEs[]? == "CVE-2024-54499")'
Check if your macOS version is affected using SOFA data
curl -s https://sofafeed.macadmins.io/v1/macos_data_feed.json | jq '.OSVersions[] | select(.OSVersion | startswith("15")) | {OSVersion, Latest: .Latest.ProductVersion, CVEs: .SecurityReleases[].CVEs}'
Use osquery to check for unpatched CVEs on your fleet
osqueryi "SELECT FROM sofa_unpatched_cves WHERE cve = 'CVE-2024-54499';"
How Exploit: (Educational Purposes!)
The exploitation of CVE-2024-54499 involves crafting a malicious image file that triggers the use-after-free condition within the ImageIO framework. An attacker would create an image designed to cause the ImageIO component to free a memory buffer prematurely, while retaining a pointer to that freed memory. Subsequent processing of the image would then cause the application to dereference the stale pointer, leading to memory corruption. By carefully controlling the heap layout, an attacker could potentially place controlled data into the freed memory region, thereby hijacking the execution flow. This could result in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the application processing the image. For educational purposes, a proof-of-concept might involve generating a specially structured TIFF or JPEG file that manipulates the image metadata to trigger the flawed memory management path. The exploit would require precise heap grooming to ensure that the freed memory is reallocated with attacker-controlled content before the use-after-free dereference occurs.
Protection: from this CVE
Update macOS to version 15.2 (Sequoia) or later, as the vulnerability is patched in this release. For older macOS versions, apply the corresponding security updates if available. Avoid opening or processing image files from untrusted sources. Implement application sandboxing and least privilege principles to limit the impact of a successful exploit. Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for suspicious image processing activities. Enable System Integrity Protection (SIP) and other macOS security features. Regularly check SOFA feed for unpatched CVEs on your fleet and prioritize patching based on severity. Consider using content disarm and reconstruction (CDR) solutions to sanitize images before processing.
Impact:
Successful exploitation of CVE-2024-54499 can lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the application that processes the malicious image. This could result in full system compromise, allowing an attacker to install malware, exfiltrate sensitive data, or move laterally within a network. The vulnerability affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially causing data breaches, system instability, and unauthorized access to protected resources. Given the widespread use of ImageIO across macOS applications, the attack surface is significant, and the impact could be severe in enterprise environments where users frequently handle images from external sources.
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
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