CVE-2015-1117

Vulnerability

The kernel implementations of the setreuid and setregid system calls in Apple iOS before 8.3, Apple OS X before 10.10.3, and Apple TV before 7.2 do not properly perform privilege drops. A crafted application can exploit this flaw to execute code with unintended user or group privileges [1][2][3].

Exploitation

An attacker needs the ability to install and run a crafted application on the affected device. No additional authentication or network position is required beyond normal app execution. The app simply invokes the vulnerable system calls with crafted arguments to bypass privilege dropping.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the crafted app to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially gaining root or other system-level access. This compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the device.

Mitigation

Apple addressed the issue in iOS 8.3, OS X Yosemite v10.10.3, and Apple TV 7.2. Users should update their devices to these versions or later [1][2][3]. No workaround is available for unpatched systems.