CVE-2014-8837

Vulnerability

Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities exist in the Bluetooth driver of Apple OS X prior to version 10.10.2 [1]. Affected versions include OS X Yosemite v10.10 and v10.10.1. The vulnerabilities are triggered by a crafted application running on the system, requiring no additional special conditions beyond the ability to execute an untrusted app.

Exploitation

An attacker must have the ability to run a malicious application on the target OS X system. The crafted app leverages one of the unspecified flaws in the Bluetooth driver code path. No user interaction beyond launching the app is necessary, and no particular network position or authentication is required because the attack vector is local execution.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context — specifically, at the kernel level. This grants full control over the system, including the ability to install malware, access or modify sensitive data, and bypass security mechanisms. The impact is a complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Mitigation

Apple addressed these vulnerabilities in OS X Yosemite v10.10.2 and Security Update 2015-001, released on January 27, 2015 [1]. Users should update to OS X 10.10.2 or later. There is no public workaround available, and the vendor does not disclose further details. The issue is not listed on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.