CVE-2025-24113: Apple Safari XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24113 Overview

CVE-2025-24113 is a user interface spoofing vulnerability affecting Apple Safari and multiple Apple operating systems. The issue stems from improper UI handling that could allow a malicious website to mislead users by presenting deceptive interface elements. When users visit a maliciously crafted website, attackers could exploit this flaw to display spoofed UI components, potentially tricking victims into taking unintended actions or disclosing sensitive information.

Critical Impact

Visiting a malicious website may lead to user interface spoofing, enabling phishing attacks and credential theft through deceptive browser or system UI elements.

Affected Products

• Apple Safari versions prior to 18.3
• Apple macOS versions prior to Sequoia 15.3
• Apple iOS versions prior to 18.3
• Apple iPadOS versions prior to 18.3
• Apple visionOS versions prior to 2.3

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-27 - CVE-2025-24113 published to NVD
• 2025-11-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24113

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate how the user interface is rendered or displayed when a user visits a malicious website. UI spoofing attacks are particularly dangerous because they exploit user trust in familiar interface elements. An attacker could craft a website that displays fake browser chrome, system dialogs, or authentication prompts that appear legitimate but are actually controlled by the attacker.

The attack requires user interaction—specifically, the victim must visit a malicious website. Once the user navigates to the attacker-controlled site, the vulnerability can be triggered to present misleading UI elements. This could be leveraged for phishing campaigns, credential harvesting, or tricking users into authorizing malicious actions they believe to be legitimate system or browser requests.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-24113 lies in insufficient validation or improper handling of UI rendering logic within Apple's WebKit-based browser engine and associated operating system components. The flaw allows web content to influence or mimic trusted UI elements that should only be controlled by the browser or operating system itself. Apple addressed this issue by implementing improved UI handling to ensure proper separation between web content and trusted interface elements.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker must first set up a malicious website designed to exploit the UI spoofing vulnerability. The attack flow typically follows these steps:

1. Attacker crafts a malicious website containing code to trigger UI spoofing
2. Victim is lured to the malicious site through phishing emails, malicious ads, or compromised legitimate websites
3. Upon visiting the site, the vulnerability is exploited to render spoofed UI elements
4. The victim interacts with what they believe are legitimate browser or system prompts
5. Attacker harvests credentials, permissions, or other sensitive data

No public exploit code or proof-of-concept is currently available for this vulnerability. The attack leverages web content to display misleading interface elements that could mimic system dialogs, browser security indicators, or authentication prompts.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24113

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual browser behavior when visiting external websites, such as unexpected dialog boxes or prompts
• User reports of suspicious authentication requests appearing from websites
• Web logs showing access to known phishing or malicious domains
• Anomalous JavaScript activity attempting to manipulate DOM elements mimicking system UI

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web filtering solutions to block access to known malicious websites exploiting this vulnerability
• Implement browser telemetry monitoring to detect unusual UI rendering patterns
• Utilize endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions like SentinelOne to monitor for suspicious browser process behavior
• Review security bulletins from Apple for IOCs associated with active exploitation

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable enhanced logging for Safari and system browsers across macOS, iOS, and visionOS devices
• Monitor for user complaints or reports of suspicious browser dialogs or prompts
• Track software inventory to identify unpatched Apple devices vulnerable to CVE-2025-24113
• Configure alerting on access attempts to domains flagged in threat intelligence feeds

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24113

Immediate Actions Required

• Update all affected Apple devices to the latest patched versions immediately
• Deploy network-level protections to block known malicious websites
• Educate users about phishing risks and the importance of verifying prompts before entering credentials
• Enable automatic updates on all Apple devices to ensure timely patching

Patch Information

Apple has released security updates that address CVE-2025-24113 with improved UI handling. Organizations should prioritize deploying the following patched versions:

Workarounds

• Restrict browsing to trusted websites until patches can be applied
• Implement content security policies to block potentially malicious web content
• Use enterprise mobile device management (MDM) to enforce browser security settings
• Consider using alternative browsers temporarily if Safari updates cannot be immediately deployed

# Check Safari version on macOS
/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari --version

# Verify macOS version
sw_vers -productVersion

# Force software update check on macOS
softwareupdate --list