The vulnerability, assigned CVE-2025-24091, leverages the operating system’s Darwin notifications system to trigger an endless reboot cycle, effectively “bricking” devices and requiring a complete system restore. They provide a low-level mechanism for simple message exchange between processes on Apple’s operating systems,” explained Guilherme Rambo, the security researcher who discovered the vulnerability. By placing the exploit in a widget that repeatedly crashes after sending the notification, the researcher created a persistent attack that would trigger after each restart, creating an endless loop that rendered the device unusable. The most dangerous aspect was that these notifications could trigger powerful system functions, including entering a “restore in progress” mode. Unlike more commonly known notification systems such as NSNotificationCenter or NSDistributedNotificationCenter, Darwin notifications are part of a legacy API that operates at a fundamental level across Apple’s operating systems. Previously, Kaspersky Lab identified a “Darwin Nuke” vulnerability that could allow remote attackers to initiate denial of service attacks through specifically crafted network packets. The researcher created a proof-of-concept attack called “VeryEvilNotify” that implemented this exploit within a widget extension. Apple addressed the vulnerability in iOS 18.3 by implementing a new entitlement system for sensitive Darwin notifications. The case highlights the ongoing security challenges in mobile operating systems, where even simple and overlooked legacy APIs can pose significant risks when improperly secured. Cyber Security News is a Dedicated News Platform For Cyber News, Cyber Attack News, Hacking News & Vulnerability Analysis. “Because of how widespread the use of widgets is on the system, when a new app that includes a widget extension is installed and launched, the system is very eager to execute its widget extension”.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Mon, 28 Apr 2025 06:25:06 +0000