Manipulated websites apparently continue to attempt to inject monitoring tools on iPhones. Attackers use iPhone vulnerabilities in Apple’s browser engine, which make certain iOS versions vulnerable.
When visiting the site, malware with root rights is introduced, which transfers a lot of user data from photos to communication via messenger. The attacker’s server and thus enables comprehensive monitoring. The attacks would be carried out for websites targeting the community. Apple emphasized at the time in a reaction that the iPhone vulnerabilities had long been closed.
The system can be taken over by several gaps in Apple’s browser when a user accesses a suitably prepared website. The only requirement is that the user already trusts a legitimate website and uses it to access allowed. iPhone vulnerabilities can be exploited in all iOS versions, so they affect all iPhones. A few holes in Apple’s browser engine WebKit, which combines this attack scenario. Apple has now closed the vulnerabilities via updates.
Since Apple forces all iOS browsers to use WebKit, iPhones could also be successfully compromised if users use third-party browsers such as Chrome. However, according to Apple, iOS 12 is still running on just under a quarter of the active iPhones. How many of them were not updated to the latest version of iOS 12 remains unclear. Last year Apple started to provide the older iOS version with security updates, but does not provide any details about the fixed iPhone vulnerabilities.
Apple Has Already Closed The Vulnerabilities With Updates
In 2020, several gaps in iOS were fixed. An update for iOS 12 released on the same day should also close the gaps in this version, although Apple does not publish any CVE numbers for this.
