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Apple: Majority Of Mac OS X Users Not At Risk To 'Shellshock'
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Robert McDougal
Robert McDougal,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/28/2014 | 12:48:25 PM
Apple is attempting to minimize.
True, in order to be vulnerable to a remote execution you need to enable some inbound service, such as SSH.  However, the fact is that ALL versions of OSX have the vulnerability.  In my testing, every version of OSX, including the beta of Yosemite, have proved to be vulnerable.

I know Apple hasn't had to deal with major vulnerabilities routinely in the past, but this isn't the way to address it.  Apple should admit that all versions of OSX have the vulnerability but, users are not exposed unless they enable X, Y or Z.  They shouldn't leave the subject up for debate by making a nebulous statement such as "systems are safe by default and not exposed to remote exploits of Bash unless users configure advanced UNIX services".  This doesn't actually explain to users how they might currently be vulnerable, or what they may do for a work around.

Apple gets an F for this response in my book.

 
RyanSepe
RyanSepe,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/29/2014 | 9:12:11 AM
Re: Apple is attempting to minimize.
Very good point Robert. I think even if there is the possibility of a vulnerable configuration within your hardware that you need to account for it. How difficult would it be for Apple to design a quick app to check if the system settings you have on your Mac are vulnerable? 

The answer is not very difficult at all if it is just a series of enables/disables. If enabled true if not than false. A quick scan should be made available for all OSX users. I think it isn't too lofty of a request considered that this vulnerability was given the highest severity rating possible by NIST.
securityaffairs
securityaffairs,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/29/2014 | 11:02:09 AM
Re: Apple is attempting to minimize.
I agree, OS X is anyway affected by the Bash bug flaw and its announcement is giving a fake sense of security to many people that aren't able to check their systems.
theb0x
theb0x,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/29/2014 | 9:26:22 PM
Re: Apple is attempting to minimize.
The following conditions must be true in OSX to exploit the system:

1) Root must be enabled. The setting is pretty well hidden and the user must knowly access it. (System default is disabled in latest OSX.)

2) A local terminal session must be spawned with the following command followed by root password:

sudo systemsetup -setremotelogin on

This enables the SSH Daemon. How many average Apple users do you think have configured their systems this way? At this point I see this as nothing more than a social engineering attack for these system conditions to be true for most users. Unless they know what SSH is because they're a Sys Admin. I am not taking sides with Apple. Their security responses are a joke and always make me chuckle.
securityaffairs
securityaffairs,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/30/2014 | 2:38:52 AM
Re: Apple is attempting to minimize.
I agree theb0x!


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