CISA Adds Apple Pointer Authentication Bypass to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
Federal agencies must remediate the actively exploited CVE-2024-27834 vulnerability by November 18, 2026.
1CISA Catalog Update
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has officially added CVE-2024-27834 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. This flaw, which carries a CVSS score of 5.5, affects Apple operating systems and Safari. Federal agencies are now mandated to address this security gap to mitigate risks to their enterprise networks.
2Pointer Authentication Mechanism
Pointer Authentication is a hardware-based security feature integrated into Apple processors to protect memory addresses. It functions by applying cryptographic signatures to pointers, ensuring they remain unmodified. By bypassing this barrier, attackers can circumvent protections designed to prevent memory-corruption attacks, effectively weakening the device's overall defense against malicious code execution.
3Exploitation Requirements
The vulnerability is not a standalone entry point; it requires an attacker to already possess arbitrary read and write capabilities on the target device. Once this initial access is achieved, CVE-2024-27834 allows the bypass of Pointer Authentication Codes. This enables attackers to forge valid pointers necessary for executing arbitrary malicious code.
4APT29 Attack Chain
Sekoia reports that Russia-linked cyberespionage group APT29 has utilized this vulnerability in sophisticated exploit chains. Attackers employed compromised websites and supply-chain attacks via Plerdy SEO Tracker to deliver malicious JavaScript. This zero-click campaign targeted Safari and Chrome to deploy information-stealing malware, specifically harvesting browser cookies and sensitive device data from victims.
5Modern Silicon Defense
On modern Apple silicon, achieving arbitrary read and write access within the renderer is insufficient for full exploitation. Because the architecture relies on cryptographically signed control-flow pointers, simply overwriting a function pointer triggers a process crash. The CVE-2024-27834 bypass is therefore a critical component for attackers attempting to hijack execution flow.
6Remediation and Patches
Apple addressed this vulnerability through improved security checks in several software updates. Patches are available in Safari 17.5, iOS and iPadOS 16.7.8 and 17.5, macOS Sonoma 14.5, tvOS 17.5, and watchOS 10.5. Organizations are advised to verify their infrastructure and ensure these specific versions are deployed to mitigate potential exploitation risks.
7Federal Compliance Mandate
Under Binding Operational Directive 22-01, federal civilian executive branch agencies are required to remediate identified vulnerabilities within the KEV catalog. For this specific Apple flaw, CISA has set a firm deadline of November 18, 2026. This directive aims to reduce the significant risk posed by vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild.
8Broader Security Implications
While the directive targets federal agencies, experts recommend that private organizations also review the KEV catalog to secure their own infrastructure. The use of this bypass by state-sponsored actors highlights the necessity of maintaining updated systems. Proactive patching remains the primary defense against evolving exploit chains that target hardware-level security features.