Basic Flaws Allow Phishing And Spamming Vulnerabilities In iPhone
Security researcher Aviv Raff has discovered a pair of basic design flaws that could allow malicious phishing and spamming attacks on your iPhone. According to an advisory from Raff, the iPhone’s Mail and Safari applications are susceptible to a URL Spoofing vulnerability which allow attackers to conduct phishing attacks. iPhone Mail and Safari on firmware 1.1.4 and 2.0 are affected by this vulnerability. Earlier versions might also be affected.
By creating a specially crafted URL, and sending it via an email, an attacker can convince the user that the spoofed URL, showed in the mail application, is from a trusted domain (e.g. Bank, PayPal, Social Networks, etc.). When clicking on the URL, the Safari browser will be opened. The spoofed URL, showed in the address bar of the Safari browser, will still be viewed by the victim as if it is of a trusted domain.
According to Raff, Apple have acknowledged the vulnerability in the Mail application, and are still investigating the issue in the Safari for iPhone. Apple has also acknowledged that iPhone’s Mail application is “spammable” and that this as a security issue.
Until a fix is available, users should avoid clicking on links in the Mail application which refers to trusted web sites. Instead, a user should enter the URL of the website manually in the Safari application. iPhone users should consider stop using the Mail application until Apple fixes this issue, unless they don’t mind to be spammed.
Those security flaws might already be exploited in-the-wild. Proof-of-concept code for both vulnerabilities has reported to be available.
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