iOS 14.5 to make zero-click attacks ‘significantly more difficult’

Apple’s impending update to Apple’s iOS and iPadOS 14.5 will make zero-click attacks considerably more difficult by extending PAC security provisions, according to Motherboard.

Apple has made a change in the way it protects its code in the latest betas of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 to make zero-click attacks much more difficult. The change, detected by security researchers, has now been confirmed by Apple and is scheduled to be included in the final update.

Zero-click attacks allow hackers to hack into a target without requiring victim interaction, such as clicking on a malicious phishing link. Zero click attacks are therefore considerably more difficult for targeted users to detect and are considered much more sophisticated.

Since 2018, Apple has used Pointer Authentication Codes (PAC) to prevent attackers from taking advantage of corrupted memory to inject malicious code. Encryption is applied to authenticate pointers and validate them before they are used. ISA pointers instruct a program about the code it should use when running on iOS. By using encryption to sign these pointers, Apple is now extending PAC protection to ISA pointers.

“Nowadays, once the pointer is signed, it is more difficult to corrupt them to manipulate objects in the system. These objects were used mainly in sandbox escapes and zero clicks,” said Adam Donenfeld from security company Zimperium Motherboard. The change “will definitely make the zero click more difficult. The sandbox also escapes. Significantly more difficult.” Sandboxes aim to isolate applications from each other to prevent a program’s code from interacting with the broader operating system.

Although the zero click will not be eradicated through this change, many of the exploits used by hackers and government organizations will now be “irretrievably lost”. Hackers will now need to find new techniques to implement zero-click attacks on the iPhone and iPad, but security improvements to ISA pointers are likely to have a significant impact on the overall number of attacks on these devices.