iOS 8 SSL Security Problems: WiFried Bug Returns, Apple Security Flaw Found

Just when things seemed to be improving for the iOS 8 and its most recent update the iOS 8.3, a new security flaw dubbed the "No iOS Zone" was recently found in Apple's latest operating system.

Earlier this month, the bad news was centered on the return of the WiFried bug which was thought to have been fixed with the iOS 8.3 update but made a comeback within a week.

Attention is now focused on the discovered flaw in SSL certificates in the iOS 8. This flaw was discovered by Skycure, a mobile security solution company based in Israel, and showcased at the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, California. The flaw allows potential attackers to send bogus SSL certificates via a Wi-Fi connection to devices running the OS.

Skycure uncovered the flaw when its technicians successfully got apps on various devices such as iPads, iPods and iPhones to crash. When they were able to attack the operating system itself, it caused the devices to constantly reboot. The reboot cycle in this case happened constantly and even though it could be stopped by switching off the Wi-Fi connection, the process was too fast. In such cases, the only solution was to remove the device from within the range of the Wi-Fi network.

Skycure stated that it was able to use the WiFiGate threat which was found previously and combined it with the new SSL certificate flaw to constantly crash apps and reboot devices. WiFiGate causes Apple devices to automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks from specific service providers such as Vodafone, and these settings cannot be disabled. Once the attacker creates a bogus Wi-Fi network with these settings and gets devices to connect to it, the SSL flaw can be exploited.

For those still using iOS 8, Skycure is recommending that they upgrade their devices to the latest version. However, this does not guarantee a fix for the flaw.

As for the WiFried bug, it continues to hang around. Initially some users reported that the problem had been fixed with the iOS 8.3 update. However, a majority of users have been angered by how Apple has not managed to fully fix the bug after claiming it had done just that when it released the iOS 8.3.