2018 hasn’t been kind to Apple – iOS 11 jailbreak, Batterygate scandal, and now a powerful exploit for its desktop operating system, macOS. Here’s all you need to know about the latest IOHIDeous exploit.
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IOHIDeous grants root access on macOS
IOHIDeous is a dangerous security exploit that grants anyone root access on macOS. It is developed by the eminent jailbreak developer, Siguza.
According to Siguza, this family of vulnerabilities has been present in macOS since 2002. It exploits a bug in the IOHIDFamily, hence, the name IOHIDeous.
It allows anyone to get root access without having administrator privileges. The attacker can get unfettered kernel read/write access, which can potentially lead to a full system compromise.
Moreover, IOHIDeous is a remote attack and doesn’t require physical access to the target machine. This means hacking is possible even if a hacker performs the necessary exploitations from far away.
However, a reboot, logout, or a shutdown of the system are necessary to perform such an attack.
How can I stay safe?
1. Update to macOS 10.13.2
macOS 10.13.2 is largely safe from this kind of attack and I highly recommend you update your system to this version.
Although the vulnerability remains unfixed on 10.13.2, the exploit doesn’t work out of the box on this version.
This is because the “hid” binary works in a different manner as compared to older versions.
The IOHIDeous exploit can still work after applying the necessary changes.
2. Download software from trusted sources
I also recommend downloading executable files of software programs only from trusted sources.
IOHIDeous relies heavily on an executable file on the target computer and you never know if any program or tool contains shady code.
3. Don’t update existing software
Stay away from updating or installing the new version of existing software on your computer. Who knows what code the update will contain.
I suggest staying put until Apple patches this loophole completely.
When will Apple patch this exploit?
As of now, Apple is working on pushing out a patch for this exploit. As always, it won’t take long for them to close this loophole on all the latest versions.
This would have been fixed ages ago if Apple had a bug bounty program for macOS. This is why macOS hackers rely on private companies to sell their exploits.
According to the latest news, Apple is currently working on a patch that should be released as soon as possible.
