Apple update for iOS 14.8 fixes the zero-click exploit that was used to distribute Pegasus spyware

Today’s iOS 14.8 update fixes a critical vulnerability that Apple engineers have been working 24 hours a day to fix, according to reports The New York Times.

Last week, the Citizen Lab reported on Apple’s new zero-click iMessage exploit aimed at Apple’s image rendering library. Called FORCEDENTRY, the operation could infect an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac with Pegasus spyware, providing access to the camera and microphone, as well as allowing access to text messages, phone calls and emails.

FORCEDENTRY was distributed by Israel’s NSO group to governments and several other entities, and The Citizen Lab discovered it after analyzing the “iPhone” of a Saudi activist. The details were sent to Apple on September 7 and Apple took a week to fix the bug. According to The Citizen Lab, FORCEDENTRIA has been in use since at least February 2021.

“This spyware can do everything an iPhone user can do to their device and more,” said John-Scott Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab.

Apple lists the solution as CVE-2021-30860 and described it as a malicious PDF that could lead to arbitrary code execution.

In July, a series of media reports highlighted the exploits of zero-click iMessage called Pegasus, which were distributed by the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group and were used to target journalists, lawyers and activists. of human rights around the world. A database of more than 50,000 people who had been targeted by NSO customers was then made public.

Pegasus spyware is notable for edging BlastDoor, specific iMessage protections that Apple launched with the release of iOS 14. BlastDoor is a messaging security system designed to prevent managements like Pegasus, but it’s still a work in progress.

Apple said The New York Times which plans to add spyware barriers to the iOS 15 software update to prevent similar attacks in the future.

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