In late 2022, Apple quietly patched a serious security flaw called CVE-2022-42825 across most of its operating systems, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. This was not just a small bug—it could have let malicious apps escape their sandbox and tamper with protected parts of the file system, something Apple devices are known to guard carefully.

Let’s break down how this happened, what it really means, and how Apple fixed it. We'll also look at a sample code snippet that demonstrates what an exploit might look like, using simple language so everyone can grasp it.  

What Is CVE-2022-42825?

At its core, CVE-2022-42825 was an issue with how certain apps were given more “entitlements” than they should have been allowed. An entitlement in Apple’s world is like a permission slip: it tells the iPhone, Mac or iPad what an app is allowed to do.

Sometimes, Apple mistakenly gave out more powerful permission slips than they meant to. If a malicious app realized it had one, it could reach into protected parts of the file system — spaces where only the operating system or official apps should have access.

macOS Big Sur: Fixed in 11.7.1

Apple’s official advisory:  
About the security content of Apple software updates

How Did the Exploit Work?

To exploit this bug, a malicious developer would build an app that wrongly requests (or inherits) one of the overreaching entitlements. Then, the app could use these extra privileges to make changes or read files in sensitive directories—*bypassing the usual system security*.

Example: Accessing Restricted Folder

In regular circumstances, trying to write to a protected part of the file system would fail, as the app shouldn’t have access.

Here’s some Swift code that would usually be blocked

import Foundation

let protectedPath = "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SomeProtectedFolder/testfile.txt"
let data = "Malicious code here".data(using: .utf8)!

do {
    try data.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: protectedPath))
    print("Wrote to protected file system!")
} catch {
    print("Error: \(error)")
}

In a properly secured system, the code above will always throw a permission error.

The write operation wouldn’t fail, allowing the file system modification.

Note: We're demonstrating the impact here — not enabling real-world attacks!

How Was It Fixed?

Apple’s solution was simple and effective: remove the extra entitlements. They went through their libraries, sandboxes, and system code to make sure only the right apps got the right access.

From the release notes

> This issue was addressed by removing additional entitlements.

This means normal apps, even if they try to reach into the protected system files, will be properly blocked again.

What Should Users And Developers Do?

- Users: Update your device to the latest OS version as soon as possible. Apple already patched this, so staying current keeps you safe.
- Developers: Never try to ask for more than the minimum entitlements your app truly needs. Apple will reject you — and vulnerabilities like this are rare.

More Information

- Apple Security Updates
- NVD - CVE-2022-42825
- Security researcher’s writeup (if available) – always look for new analysis by security professionals.

Final Thoughts

CVE-2022-42825 is a great example that even in tightly locked-down ecosystems like Apple’s, mistakes can happen. The key is how quickly those mistakes get patched — and in this case, Apple acted fast.

Remember: Always update! That’s your first line of defense — for bugs like CVE-2022-42825 and many more you’ll never hear about, because the best security issues are the ones that never trouble you.

Stay safe and keep your devices up to date!

*(Original content. For educational purposes. No support for exploitation.)*

Timeline

Published on: 11/01/2022 20:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/03/2022 13:43:00 UTC