Detect Apple Multiple Products Improper Locking Vulnerability (CVE-2025-43510) in Microsoft Sentinel
CVE-2025-43510 is an improper locking vulnerability (CWE-667) affecting multiple Apple products, including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS. This flaw, added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, allows an attacker with local access to potentially exploit race conditions arising from improper mutex or lock management, leading to privilege escalation, memory corruption, or kernel-level code execution. Detection focuses on anomalous kernel panics, unexpected privilege escalations, exploitation of race conditions, and post-exploitation indicators on Apple endpoints.
MITRE ATT&CK
KQL Detection Query
union DeviceProcessEvents, DeviceEvents
| where DeviceOS startswith "Mac" or DeviceOS startswith "iOS" or DeviceOS startswith "iPadOS"
| where Timestamp > ago(7d)
| where (
(ActionType == "ProcessCrashed" and InitiatingProcessFileName in~ ("kernel_task", "launchd", "SpringBoard", "backboardd")) or
(ActionType in ("ProcessCreated", "ProcessInjected") and AccountName != "root" and InitiatingProcessIntegrityLevel in ("Low", "Medium") and ProcessIntegrityLevel == "System") or
(FileName in~ ("osascript", "bash", "zsh", "python3") and ProcessCommandLine has_any ("sudo", "setuid", "seteuid", "pthread_mutex", "dispatch_semaphore"))
)
| extend RiskScore = case(
ActionType == "ProcessInjected", 90,
ProcessIntegrityLevel == "System" and AccountName != "root", 85,
ActionType == "ProcessCrashed" and InitiatingProcessFileName == "kernel_task", 75,
50
)
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, DeviceOS, AccountName, ActionType, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, ProcessIntegrityLevel, RiskScore
| sort by RiskScore desc, Timestamp descDetects suspicious privilege escalation and process anomalies on Apple devices consistent with exploitation of CVE-2025-43510. Monitors for kernel crashes, unexpected privilege elevation from low-integrity processes to SYSTEM, and shell invocations with locking-related syscall patterns.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate system update processes may trigger kernel_task crashes during patching
- Developer tools (Xcode, LLDB) may spawn elevated processes during debugging sessions
- MDM enrollment processes may briefly elevate privileges on managed Apple devices
- Third-party security agents (EDR, AV) may perform injections that resemble exploit activity
Other platforms for CVE-2025-43510
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 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 Race Condition Privilege Escalation via pthread_mutex (macOS)
Expected signal: EDR process creation event for gcc compiling /tmp/race_test.c, followed by execution of /tmp/race_test. System call `id` execution from child process. No kernel-level events expected in this benign simulation.
- Test 2LaunchDaemon Persistence Installation Post-Exploitation Simulation (macOS)
Expected signal: File creation event for /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.test.cve202543510.plist (CrowdStrike CriticalFileAccessed or equivalent), launchctl process execution events, bash child process spawning from launchd after load.
- Test 3Kernel Locking Stress Test via dispatch_semaphore Abuse (macOS)
Expected signal: Swift compiler process event (swiftc or swift), followed by execution of the compiled binary. Process command line should contain references to lock_abuse.swift. DispatchSemaphore usage may appear in dynamic analysis but not typically in static command-line telemetry.
- Test 4Non-Root to Root Privilege Escalation Simulation via SUID Binary (macOS)
Expected signal: gcc compilation event in /tmp, chmod 4755 file permission change event (CrowdStrike FileAttributeChange), SUID binary execution showing effective UID 0, whoami and id child process executions returning 'root'.
References (9)
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125632
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125633
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125634
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125635
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125636
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125637
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125638
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/125639
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-43510
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