Network Security, Patch/Configuration Management, Vulnerability Management

Apple fixes memory corruption vulnerability in AirPort product line

June 21, 2016

Addressing a vulnerability that could have potentially resulted in remote code execution, Apple yesterday announced a firmware update for several of its AirPort Wi-Fi products.

According to an Apple mailing list notification, firmware updates 7.6.7 and 7.7.7 have been applied to AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations using the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard, as well as AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with the 802.11ac standard and using AirPort Utility for Mac or iOS.

Apple described the vulnerability – officially designated as CVE-2015-7029 – as a memory corruption issue existing in the DNS data parsing process. “This issue was addressed through improved bounds checking,” the notification explained.

Sophos senior security advisor Paul Ducklin wrote in a Naked Security article that the bug – originally discovered nine months ago – is probably exploitable “by feeding malformed replies to an AirPort that makes outbound DNS requests on behalf of the devices on its internal network.”

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Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.