Detect Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free Vulnerability (CVE-2023-43000) in CrowdStrike LogScale
Detects exploitation of CVE-2023-43000, a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) affecting multiple Apple products. This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating active exploitation in the wild. Use-after-free conditions in Apple system components can allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or achieve kernel-level compromise on affected macOS, iOS, and related platforms.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Privilege Escalation Execution
LogScale Detection Query
#event_simpleName IN (ProcessRollup2, NetworkConnectIP4, NetworkConnectIP6, SuspiciousKernelApiCall)
| $event_simpleName = "ProcessRollup2"
| ImageFileName MATCHES "(?i)/(ReportCrash|CrashReporter|osanalyticshelper|sysdiagnose)$"
| PlatformType = "Mac"
| join (
#event_simpleName = "NetworkConnectIP4"
| RemotePort IN [4444, 1337, 8080, 8443, 9001, 9002]
| NOT RemoteAddressIP4 CIDR ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16", "127.0.0.0/8"]
| select aid, RemoteAddressIP4, RemotePort, LocalAddressIP4, NetworkConnectTimestamp
) [aid, ComputerName]
| select ComputerName, UserName, ImageFileName, CommandLine, RemoteAddressIP4, RemotePort, ProcessStartTime, NetworkConnectTimestamp
| sort -ProcessStartTimeCrowdStrike Falcon CQL query correlating macOS crash reporter process launches with suspicious external network connections on the same host, detecting post-exploitation activity associated with CVE-2023-43000.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- ReportCrash process making legitimate connections to Apple crash reporting endpoints (crashes.apple.com)
- MDM-managed devices where crash telemetry is forwarded to enterprise crash analysis platforms
- CrowdStrike sensor self-diagnostics that generate process events resembling crash handlers
- Legitimate third-party crash analytics SDKs (Firebase Crashlytics, Sentry) establishing outbound connections
Other platforms for CVE-2023-43000
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Simulate macOS Use-After-Free Crash with C2-like Network Beacon
Expected signal: Process crash event for python3, EXC_BAD_ACCESS in crash logs, outbound TCP connection to LAB_C2_HOST:4444 from the same host within 10 seconds of crash
- Test 2Invoke CrashReporter from Non-Standard Parent Process
Expected signal: ProcessRollup2 event for ReportCrash with parent_process=bash; crash report file creation in DiagnosticReports directory
- Test 3Mass Crash Generation and External Reachback Simulation
Expected signal: 5 crash report files created in DiagnosticReports, 5 outbound HTTP connections to LAB_C2_HOST:4444 over ~5 seconds
Unlock Pro Content
Get the full detection package for CVE-2023-43000 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.