Warning: Zero-click iOS malware attack via iMessage infects iPhones running iOS 15.7 and earlier – Kaspersky

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Antivirus provider Kaspersky has discovered a malware campaign targeting iPhones running up to iOS 15.7 via iMessage. Importantly, this zero-click/tap malware can be found and blocked.

Since it is impossible to inspect modern iOS devices from the inside, we created offline backups of the devices in question, inspected them using the Mobile Verification Toolkit’s mvt-ios and discovered traces of compromise.

We are calling this campaign “Operation Triangulation”, and all the related information we have on it will be collected on the Operation Triangulation page.

This allowed [us] to move the research forward, and to reconstruct the general infection sequence:

• The target iOS device receives a message via the iMessage service, with an attachment containing an exploit.
• Without any user interaction, the message triggers a vulnerability that leads to code execution.
• The code within the exploit downloads several subsequent stages from the C&C server, that include additional exploits for privilege escalation.
• After successful exploitation, a final payload is downloaded from the C&C server, that is a fully-featured APT platform.
• The initial message and the exploit in the attachment is deleted

The malicious toolset does not support persistence, most likely due to the limitations of the OS. The timelines of multiple devices indicate that they may be reinfected after rebooting. The oldest traces of infection that we discovered happened in 2019. As of the time of writing in June 2023, the attack is ongoing, and the most recent version of the devices successfully targeted is iOS 15.7.

The analysis of the final payload is not finished yet. The code is run with root privileges, implements a set of commands for collecting system and user information, and can run arbitrary code downloaded as plugin modules from the C&C server.

It is important to note, that, although the malware includes portions of code dedicated specifically to clear the traces of compromise, it is possible to reliably identify if the device was compromised. Furthermore, if a new device was set up by migrating user data from an older device, the iTunes backup of that device will contain the traces of compromise that happened to both devices, with correct timestamps.

Via: Kaspersky