Spiderman Hacker Exploits Apple Vision Pro to Unleash 100s of VR Spiders
A well-known security researcher, famous for finding bugs in Apple products, has uncovered a very literal bug exploit: filling the virtual workspace of Apple Vision Pro users with hundreds of lifelike spiders. This exploit, which could be executed remotely and required no user permission, has been fixed by a recent Apple security update.
Apple described the vulnerability as a logic issue with WebKit which could lead to the processing of web content that “may lead to a denial-of-service.” In reality, CVE-2024-27812 was much worse if the thought of spiders overrunning your workplace scares you.
All You Need to Know About the World’s First Spatial Computing Attack
Ryan Pickren, known for previously finding zero-day vulnerabilities in Safari that led to a remote takeover of iPhone and Mac cameras, has called this latest discovery the world's first spatial computing hack. With the vulnerability now fixed and bounty negotiations complete, Pickren has published a detailed account of the spider-creating vulnerability, revealing just how easily it could be exploited.
The vulnerability was found within Safari for visionOS, the operating system used by Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset. Exploiting it meant that a malicious website could bypass user permission warnings and fill a room with an arbitrary number of fully animated 3D objects. Pickren used spiders, along with bats, to demonstrate the scary hack. Scary for anyone with a fear of spiders or bats, but also because this remote hack meant that the animated objects persisted in the virtual space even after the user exited Safari.
Instant Spiders Enabled by Old WebKit Technology
The hack itself is relatively simple. It exploited a vulnerability that undermined the privacy safeguards around shared personal spaces using Vision Pro. “If an app wants a more immersive experience, it must receive explicit permission from the user via an OS-level prompt that places them in a trusted "Full Space" context,” Pickren explained. Apple had also rolled out an experimental feature to enable support for WebXR in the visionOS WebKit that came with a rebuilt full-space permission model in a web context to ensure user permission via a Safari popup. However, a 2018 web-based 3D model viewing standard, Apple AR Kit Quick Look, appeared to have been overlooked by Apple. This standard worked out of the box and required no experimental feature enablement. Because Safari didn’t require a permission model for this standard, it could be exploited remotely without user interaction.
“If the victim views our website in Vision Pro,” Pickren explained, “we can instantly fill their room with hundreds of crawling spiders and screeching bats! Freaky stuff.” The most frightening thing about this hack was that closing Safari didn’t stop the virtual spider infestation. The only way to get rid of them was to manually run around the room and physically tap each one.
