Apple exiles a Security Researcher Charlie Miller from its developer program.Apple just sent a clear message to malicious hackers and security researchers alike: Keep your hands off the App Store.
He has exposed lot of critical vulnerabilities in Apple's Mac and mobile platforms. Recently, he has found a way to sneak a fully-evil app onto your phone or tablet, right under Apple’s nose.
At the SysCan conference in Taiwan next week, Miller plans to present a method that exploits a flaw in Apple’s restrictions on code signing on iOS devices, the security measure that allows only Apple-approved commands to run in an iPhone or iPad’s memory. Using his method–and Miller has already planted a sleeper app in Apple’s App Store to demonstrate the trick–an app can phone home to a remote computer that downloads new unapproved commands onto the device and executes them at will, including stealing the user’s photos, reading contacts, making the phone vibrate or play sounds, or otherwise repurposing normal iOS app functions for malicious ends.
“Now you could have a program in the App Store like Angry Birds that can run new code on your phone that Apple never had a chance to check,” says Miller. “With this bug, you can’t be assured of anything you download from the App Store behaving nicely.”
Video Demo of iPhone Bug:
In February, Apple invited security researchers to become part of its developer program to test its Lion operating system. Miller says he had already paid for his own developer license. “They went out of their way to let researchers in, and now they’re kicking me out for doing research,” Miller says. “I didn’t have to report this bug. Some bad guy could have found it instead and developed real malware.”
According to Forbes, the Miller’s application has now been removed from the App Store.
He has exposed lot of critical vulnerabilities in Apple's Mac and mobile platforms. Recently, he has found a way to sneak a fully-evil app onto your phone or tablet, right under Apple’s nose.
At the SysCan conference in Taiwan next week, Miller plans to present a method that exploits a flaw in Apple’s restrictions on code signing on iOS devices, the security measure that allows only Apple-approved commands to run in an iPhone or iPad’s memory. Using his method–and Miller has already planted a sleeper app in Apple’s App Store to demonstrate the trick–an app can phone home to a remote computer that downloads new unapproved commands onto the device and executes them at will, including stealing the user’s photos, reading contacts, making the phone vibrate or play sounds, or otherwise repurposing normal iOS app functions for malicious ends.
“Now you could have a program in the App Store like Angry Birds that can run new code on your phone that Apple never had a chance to check,” says Miller. “With this bug, you can’t be assured of anything you download from the App Store behaving nicely.”
After few hours, Apple send an email that informed "This letter serves as notice of termination of the iOS Developer Program License Agreement…between you and Apple".
Video Demo of iPhone Bug:
In February, Apple invited security researchers to become part of its developer program to test its Lion operating system. Miller says he had already paid for his own developer license. “They went out of their way to let researchers in, and now they’re kicking me out for doing research,” Miller says. “I didn’t have to report this bug. Some bad guy could have found it instead and developed real malware.”
According to Forbes, the Miller’s application has now been removed from the App Store.