CVE-2024-44296 Overview
CVE-2024-44296 is a Content Security Policy (CSP) enforcement bypass affecting Apple Safari and WebKit-based operating systems. Processing maliciously crafted web content may prevent Content Security Policy from being enforced on the target browser context. The issue impacts Safari 18.1, iOS and iPadOS 17.7.1 and 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, tvOS 18.1, visionOS 2.1, and watchOS 11.1. Apple addressed the flaw with improved validation checks in the affected components. The vulnerability requires user interaction, such as visiting a crafted page, and delivers low-impact confidentiality and integrity consequences per the CVSS vector.
Critical Impact
Attackers hosting crafted web content can defeat CSP protections, enabling downstream script injection or data exfiltration that CSP would otherwise block.
Affected Products
- Apple Safari (prior to 18.1)
- Apple iOS and iPadOS (prior to 17.7.1 and 18.1)
- Apple macOS Sequoia (prior to 15.1), tvOS (prior to 18.1), visionOS (prior to 2.1), watchOS (prior to 11.1)
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-10-28 - CVE-2024-44296 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-44296
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2024-44296 is a security control bypass in Apple's WebKit-derived browser stack. The flaw allows maliciously crafted web content to prevent Content Security Policy directives from being enforced on the rendered document. CSP is a browser-side defense-in-depth mechanism that restricts script sources, inline execution, frame ancestors, and resource loading. When enforcement fails, the mitigations a site owner declared through the Content-Security-Policy header no longer constrain the page. Apple classifies the issue under [NVD-CWE-noinfo], and the fix was delivered as improved checks in the CSP enforcement path.
Root Cause
Apple's advisories describe the resolution as "improved checks," indicating that the CSP enforcement logic accepted a state or input it should have rejected. The specific parsing or evaluation function is not disclosed in the public advisory. Further technical detail requires reviewing Apple's WebKit change history referenced in the Apple security releases.
Attack Vector
Exploitation is network-based and requires user interaction. A victim must load attacker-controlled or attacker-influenced web content in a vulnerable Safari or WebKit-embedded browser. Once loaded, the crafted content suppresses CSP enforcement, allowing subsequent payloads, injected inline scripts, or unauthorized resource loads to run in the origin's context. This vulnerability is typically chained with a separate injection primitive, since CSP normally serves as a secondary control against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and data exfiltration.
No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available. The vulnerability mechanism is described in Apple's advisories and in the Full Disclosure mailing list posts associated with the October 2024 Apple release cycle.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-44296
Indicators of Compromise
- Safari or WebKit-based browser processes on macOS or iOS loading remote pages that fail to trigger CSP violation reports despite policy directives being present.
- Web server telemetry showing an unexpected absence of report-uri or report-to CSP violation callbacks from Apple user-agents on versions prior to the fix.
- User-agent strings indicating unpatched Safari, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS builds accessing sensitive applications.
Detection Strategies
- Inventory endpoints and mobile devices to identify Safari and OS versions below the fixed releases listed in Apple's advisories.
- Correlate outbound web traffic with browser version telemetry to flag users still exposed to WebKit CSP bypasses.
- Monitor web application logs for CSP violation reports and investigate origins where report volume drops after users navigate to third-party content.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable CSP reporting endpoints on internally hosted web applications and forward reports to a centralized log store for review.
- Track browser and OS version distribution across the fleet through unified endpoint management or EDR telemetry.
- Alert on repeated navigation from unpatched Apple devices to untrusted domains handling authentication or sensitive data.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-44296
Immediate Actions Required
- Update Safari to 18.1 and upgrade Apple operating systems to iOS/iPadOS 17.7.1 or 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, tvOS 18.1, visionOS 2.1, and watchOS 11.1.
- Enforce a minimum OS and browser version baseline through mobile device management for all Apple endpoints accessing corporate resources.
- Verify Debian and other downstream WebKitGTK packages are updated per the Debian LTS announcement.
Patch Information
Apple released fixes on October 28, 2024. Refer to Apple Support articles 121563, 121564, 121565, 121566, 121567, 121569, and 121571 for platform-specific advisories and installation guidance.
Workarounds
- Restrict users on unpatched Apple devices to trusted internal web applications until updates are deployed.
- Harden server-side controls by combining CSP with X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, and strict output encoding so a CSP bypass does not become the sole line of defense.
- Use conditional access policies to block sensitive application logins from browsers reporting vulnerable Safari or WebKit versions.
# Verify Safari and macOS versions on managed endpoints
sw_vers -productVersion
defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
