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Mallory
Medium

Unexpected System Termination in Apple operating systems

IdentifiersCVE-2024-44169CWE-476

CVE-2024-44169 is an Apple vulnerability described in Apple security advisories as an issue that was addressed with improved memory handling. Apple states that a malicious app may be able to cause unexpected system termination. The issue was fixed in macOS Ventura 13.7, macOS Sonoma 14.7, macOS Sequoia 15, iOS 17.7, iPadOS 17.7, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, visionOS 2, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18. Based on the available information, this is a memory-handling flaw in Apple system software that can be triggered by a local app and results in a crash of the system rather than disclosure of a specific vulnerable function or a demonstrated code-execution path. Apple has not provided public technical detail about the exact component or code path.

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For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a local app to trigger unexpected system termination, resulting in denial of service and loss of availability on the affected device. The available advisory text supports system instability and forced termination as the primary impact. No public evidence in the provided content indicates privilege escalation, code execution, or data exfiltration for this specific CVE.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting installation and execution of untrusted or unnecessary apps, especially on managed Apple devices. Enforce application control through MDM where available, restrict sideloading or non-approved software sources, and monitor for repeated crash or reboot behavior that could indicate attempted exploitation. No vendor-specific workaround beyond updating is provided in the available content.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply the Apple security updates that fix CVE-2024-44169. Apple states the issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.7, macOS Sonoma 14.7, macOS Sequoia 15, iOS 17.7, iPadOS 17.7, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, visionOS 2, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18. Upgrading to the relevant fixed OS release is the primary remediation.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AppleIos And Ipadosoperating_system
AppleIpadosoperating_system
AppleIphone Osoperating_system
AppleMacosoperating_system
AppleTvosoperating_system
AppleVisionosoperating_system
AppleWatch Osoperating_system
AppleWatchosoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.