CVE-2025-24162: Apple Safari DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24162 Overview

CVE-2025-24162 is an Out-of-Bounds Read vulnerability affecting Apple's WebKit browser engine across multiple Apple platforms. The vulnerability stems from improper state management when processing web content, which can be exploited by maliciously crafted web content to cause an unexpected process crash. This denial-of-service condition affects Safari and the underlying WebKit rendering engine used across Apple's ecosystem of devices.

Critical Impact

Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to an unexpected process crash, resulting in denial of service across Safari and WebKit-based applications on iOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS devices.

Affected Products

• Apple Safari (versions prior to 18.3)
• Apple iOS and iPadOS (versions prior to 18.3)
• Apple macOS Sequoia (versions prior to 15.3)
• Apple tvOS (versions prior to 18.3)
• Apple visionOS (versions prior to 2.3)
• Apple watchOS (versions prior to 11.3)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-27 - CVE-2025-24162 published to NVD
• 2025-11-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24162

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-125 (Out-of-Bounds Read), indicating that the WebKit rendering engine reads data past the boundaries of allocated memory buffers during web content processing. The improper state management in WebKit allows specially crafted web content to trigger memory access violations that result in process crashes.

The vulnerability requires user interaction—a victim must visit a malicious website or load compromised web content for exploitation to occur. When triggered, the WebKit process crashes unexpectedly, causing Safari tabs or WebKit-embedded applications to terminate. While the vulnerability does not allow code execution or data exfiltration based on available information, it creates a reliable denial-of-service condition that can disrupt browsing sessions.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-24162 lies in improper state management within WebKit's content processing pipeline. When WebKit encounters certain malformed or specially crafted web content, the engine fails to properly track and validate memory boundaries during parsing operations. This leads to out-of-bounds read operations where the process attempts to access memory locations beyond the allocated buffer, triggering a crash.

Apple addressed this vulnerability through improved state management, implementing additional validation checks to ensure proper memory boundary enforcement during web content processing.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by:

1. Hosting maliciously crafted web content on a website under their control
2. Distributing links to the malicious content via phishing emails, social media, or other channels
3. Waiting for victims to visit the malicious page using a vulnerable Safari browser or WebKit-based application
4. Upon loading the crafted content, the WebKit process crashes, denying service to the user

The vulnerability can be delivered through any mechanism that causes WebKit to process attacker-controlled content, including embedded web views in third-party applications, email HTML rendering, or RSS feed content.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24162

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Safari or WebKit-based application crashes during web browsing
• Crash reports in Console.app or crash reporter showing WebKit process termination
• System logs indicating WebContent or com.apple.WebKit process crashes with memory access violations
• Repeated browser crashes when visiting specific URLs or loading particular web content

Detection Strategies

• Monitor system crash logs for WebKit-related process crashes with memory violation patterns
• Implement web filtering to block known malicious domains serving exploit content
• Review browser crash reports for patterns indicating exploitation attempts
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions capable of identifying WebKit crash patterns associated with CVE-2025-24162

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable and regularly review crash reports on managed Apple devices
• Configure centralized logging for macOS and iOS crash data across enterprise environments
• Monitor network traffic for connections to known malicious domains distributing WebKit exploits
• Set up alerts for abnormal Safari or WebKit crash frequency on individual devices

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24162

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Safari to version 18.3 or later immediately
• Update iOS and iPadOS devices to version 18.3 or later
• Update macOS Sequoia to version 15.3 or later
• Update tvOS to version 18.3 or later
• Update visionOS to version 2.3 or later
• Update watchOS to version 11.3 or later

Patch Information

Apple has released security updates addressing this vulnerability across all affected platforms. Detailed patch information is available through the following Apple Security Advisories:

• Apple Support Document #122066 - Safari 18.3
• Apple Support Document #122068 - iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3
• Apple Support Document #122071 - macOS Sequoia 15.3
• Apple Support Document #122072 - tvOS 18.3
• Apple Support Document #122073 - visionOS 2.3
• Apple Support Document #122074 - watchOS 11.3

Additional security information was published via the Full Disclosure Mailing List. A Debian LTS Security Announcement is also available for WebKitGTK users on Debian-based systems.

Workarounds

• Use alternative browsers not based on WebKit (on macOS) until patches can be applied
• Implement content filtering to block suspicious JavaScript or HTML content at the network perimeter
• Restrict access to untrusted websites through web proxy or DNS filtering
• Consider using browser isolation technologies for high-risk browsing activities
• For enterprise environments, use Mobile Device Management (MDM) to enforce browser restrictions until updates are deployed

# Check current Safari version on macOS
/usr/bin/defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString

# Check current macOS version
sw_vers -productVersion

# Trigger software update check via command line
softwareupdate --list