CVE-2015-5776

Vulnerability

Libinfo, a library used for network information services in Apple iOS and OS X, contains a memory corruption vulnerability when handling AF_INET6 sockets. The issue affects iOS versions prior to 8.4.1 and OS X versions prior to 10.10.5. An attacker can trigger the vulnerability by sending specially crafted data over an IPv6 socket, leading to memory corruption.

Exploitation

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious network traffic over an AF_INET6 socket to a vulnerable system. No user interaction or special privileges are required; the attacker only needs network connectivity to the target device.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the affected process, or cause a denial of service via application crash. The exact process affected is not specified, but Libinfo is used by system services, so code execution could lead to full system compromise.

Mitigation

Apple addressed this vulnerability in iOS 8.4.1 and OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (Security Update 2015-006) [1][2]. Users should update to these or later versions. No workarounds are available.