Immediately Update Your IPhone To Prevent ICloud Data Stolen

Beware of malicious apps stealing your iCloud data (photo: x @ReinierTutorial)

JAKARTA A large security gap in the iOS system has just been discovered, allowing malicious apps to steal your iCloud data without notification or permission. This gap, codenamed CVE-2024-44131, was discovered by the Jamf Threat Labs team.

This gap attacks Apple's Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) system, which should alert users when the app tries to access personal data such as photos or locations.

This exploitation takes advantage of weaknesses in Apple's File Provider and file provider processes. Dangerous apps can sneak past security checks, allowing them to access user data such as:

This technique uses symlink race conditions, which is a trick to divert file operations to a directory controlled by malicious applications. This trick is difficult to detect by Apple's defenses because the symlink is inserted in the middle of the file path, not at the end.

Both the iOS and macOS systems are affected by this vulnerability. This shows that criminals are now increasingly targeting cross-platform services such as iCloud, challenging the perception that mobile devices are safer than desktops.

Apple has fixed this vulnerability in iOS 18 and macOS 15 updates after being warned by Jamf. To protect your data:

This threat serves as a reminder that no platform is fully secure. By keeping the device updated and alert to suspicious activity, users can prevent harmful data leakage.