Detect Apple Multiple Products Classic Buffer Overflow Exploitation (CVE-2025-43520) in Elastic Security
Detects exploitation attempts targeting CVE-2025-43520, a classic buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-120) affecting Apple Multiple Products. This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating active exploitation in the wild. Buffer overflow exploitation may manifest as abnormal process crashes, memory corruption signals, unexpected child process spawning from Apple system processes, or anomalous network connections following process exploitation.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Initial Access Execution Persistence
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by host.name with maxspan=5m
[process where event.action == "process_started"
and process.parent.name in ("Safari", "coreaudiod", "imagent", "mediaserverd", "avatard", "bluetoothd", "configd")
and process.name in ("bash", "sh", "zsh", "python3", "perl", "osascript", "curl", "wget")]
[network where event.action == "connection_attempted"
and destination.port in (4444, 1337, 31337, 8080, 8443)]EQL sequence detection correlating shell process spawn from Apple system processes followed by suspicious outbound network connection, indicating potential post-exploitation activity from CVE-2025-43520 buffer overflow.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate IT management tools spawning shell processes via Apple scripting frameworks
- Developer build pipelines using Apple processes as part of CI/CD automation
- Security testing tools generating network connections on common ports during authorized assessments
- macOS Automator workflows legitimately invoking shell scripts
Other platforms for CVE-2025-43520
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 Shell Spawn from Apple-Like Parent Process
Expected signal: Process creation event showing osascript spawning bash; command line includes 'id' and 'hostname'.
- Test 2Simulate Suspicious Outbound Network Connection from Apple Process Context
Expected signal: Network connection attempt to port 4444 initiated by process tree rooted at osascript.
- Test 3Generate Apple Process Crash Report for Forensic Artifact Validation
Expected signal: Process crash event for bash with signal SIGSEGV; diagnostic report written to DiagnosticReports directory.
- Test 4Enumerate Persistence Mechanisms Post-Exploitation Simulation
Expected signal: File creation event for .plist file in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/; optional launchctl load event.
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-2025-43520
Unlock Pro Content
Get the full detection package for CVE-2025-43520 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.