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Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

bugs.chromium.org

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Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#51

Post by bsder »

ge0rg wrote: post #49
microcolonel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, Broadcom's market share in attractive heavy-firmware wifi adapters is pretty high. They could just be an exploit magnet.

Does that mean that all embedded WiFi (and probably also baseband) controllers are deeply rotten, and we only blame Broadcom so far because of their popularity with device manufacturers?

Pretty much.

In general, you can assume that if you can't audit it, it's absolute crap. This is true for hardware and software.

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#52

Post by raverbashing »

0x0 wrote: post #7
walterbell wrote: post #5

Is this going to be fixed in iOS 10? Some users have apps which will not work with iOS 11, so cannot immediately upgrade.

Highly unlikely, I don't think Apple has ever released multiple branches of updates for any device. The closest is perhaps iOS 6.1.6, a fix for the fatal "gotofail" SSL vulnerability, which was pushed out to devices stuck on iOS 6.x, but if your device was eligible for iOS7 then iOS7(.0.6) was what you would get. That's also the only time I can remember security updates being pushed after a device model being end-of-…

Versions older than the latest macOS get updates all the time, I don't see why this wouldn't be the case here

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#53

Post by ksec »

mangix wrote: post #2

Wonder what this means in the grand scheme of things. Will Apple dump Broadcom and go with Qualcomm or attempt to fix Broadcom's broken driver. I say broken as I've yet to see good code come from Broadcom.

Go with Qualcomm? Last time I check Atheros aren't any better software wise and much worse in hardware.

I am not sure if there are any real alternative to Broadcom WiFi and Ethernet, apart from Apple making one themselves.

( The W1 and W2 may be part of this )

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#54

Post by 0x0 »

dpkonofa wrote: post #37
ronnier wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Especially now that iOS 11's wifi-off button in the control center no longer actually disables the radio I still can’t belive this decision. I keep my Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off as much as possible and it’s now difficult to to as a result of this change is ios11. Really bothers me.

Is it really that difficult to use? C'mon... Just force touch it instead of regular touching and you get the same control as before.

Lots of devices don't support force touch, for example all iPads, and iPhone 5s, 6 and 6plus.

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#55

Post by 0x0 »

raverbashing wrote: post #52
0x0 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highly unlikely, I don't think Apple has ever released multiple branches of updates for any device. The closest is perhaps iOS 6.1.6, a fix for the fatal "gotofail" SSL vulnerability, which was pushed out to devices stuck on iOS 6.x, but if your device was eligible for iOS7 then iOS7(.0.6) was what you would get. That's also the only time I can remember security updates being pushed after a device model being end-of-…

Versions older than the latest macOS get updates all the time, I don't see why this wouldn't be the case here

Historically, this has only happened once on iOS, as far as I know. It'd be great if you were right.

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#56

Post by eklavya »

dpkonofa wrote: post #37
ronnier wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Especially now that iOS 11's wifi-off button in the control center no longer actually disables the radio I still can’t belive this decision. I keep my Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off as much as possible and it’s now difficult to to as a result of this change is ios11. Really bothers me.

Is it really that difficult to use? C'mon... Just force touch it instead of regular touching and you get the same control as before.

Am I missing something? Force touch doesn't do anything except show a bigger control with all the radio settings. There is no option to disable wifi, you still have to go to the settings.

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#57

Post by raverbashing »

0x0 wrote: post #55
raverbashing wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Versions older than the latest macOS get updates all the time, I don't see why this wouldn't be the case here

Historically, this has only happened once on iOS, as far as I know. It'd be great if you were right.

Yes, it seems Apple only gives version number updates to the latest version of iOS https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201222

Not sure if they can/do update independent components though

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#58

Post by bmon »

flukus wrote: post #42
0x0 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think these latest sets of wifi flaws are interesting if it turns out they are exploitable by merely being in radio range of an attacker even without joining a malicious network or requiring user interaction. That could quickly become a fast and wormable attack. You could probably flood across an entire city jumping from chip to chip in no time. Especially now that iOS 11's wifi-off button in the control center no…

Does not having to join a network make a big difference for a worm considering the amount of wifi networks we share with large numbers of other people?

I'd say so. Imagine a worm which could spread itself to any phone within WiFi signal range. I'd guess at a worm like that covering a whole city at a really rapid pace. If you're stuck with infecting networks then the main transmission vectors would be offices, homes and cafes/restaurants etc. I think it would be much slower and much less far reaching.

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#59

Post by coldtea »

0x0 wrote: post #14
walterbell wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have they previously had an app transition like 32-bit / 64-bit, where some users cannot upgrade?

Nope, so this is going to be interesting to watch. Personally I was hoping that they would offer an optional download of 32bit support libraries to let iOS11 users run important existing legacy apps and access their documents, but they seem to push hard on making developers get in line and update their apps. Which is unhelpful for the cases where the developers no longer have any interest in their apps or even exist…

>Which is unhelpful for the cases where the developers no longer have any interest in their apps or even exist (bankrupt, disbanded, in some cases deceased)

If they are "bankrupt, disbanded, in some cases deceased" then maybe insisting on using those apps are not the best course for the user either...

Re: Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver

#60

Post by coldtea »

0x0 wrote: post #50
kevinchen wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just a matter of the space on disk to hold 32-bit libraries. They must also be loaded into memory if there are 32-bit processes running. This degrades performance system-wide, not just for the abandonware apps.

What good is RAM for if not running the applications a user needs to run? If the user is not currently running a 32bit app, drop the libraries from RAM. That is such a non-argument. The amount of space and time needed to load and unload 32bit support libraries is probably 1% of the space and time used every time a user loads a game, or the facebook app, for example.

>What good is RAM for if not running the applications a user needs to run?

What good is degraded performance because some BS game/app who on top of it is abandoned from its developer for years, and it will stop working anyway sooner or later, needs 32-bit mode? Especially when you can find 200 replacement that work fine in 64-bit and are upgraded regularly.

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