Today Apple launched critical security updates for vulnerabilities in the iPhone and iPod Touch. Of which, includes one of the password-locking feature. The Update, iPhone OS 3.1.3, is the first update since September of 2009. The update resolves five bugs indentified by Apple. Three of which Apple has deemed as, arbitrary code execution. The update also makes the battery level indicator more accurate, and resolves the problem whereas some third party apps would not launch.
According to Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, the most critical bug-fix would be the iPhones recovery mode. Used to restore the device when it becomes un-responsive, the recovery mode had a memory corruption issue when connected through USB. "A person with physical access to the device could use this to bypass the passcode and access the user’s data." Simply put, whomever finds the locked iPhone can access the data.
Below is the list of vulnerabilities patched as of today. Via Apple Support.
iPhone OS 3.1.3 and iPhone OS 3.1.3 for iPod touch
CoreAudio
CVE-ID: CVE-2010-0036
Available for: iPhone OS 1.0 through 3.1.2, iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 3.1.2
Impact: Playing a maliciously crafted mp4 audio file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A buffer overflow exists in the handling of mp4 audio files. Playing a maliciously crafted mp4 audio file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved bounds checking. Credit to Tobias Klein of trapkit.de for reporting this issue.
ImageIO
CVE-ID: CVE-2009-2285
Available for: iPhone OS 1.0 through 3.1.2, iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 3.1.2
Impact: Viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A buffer underflow exists in ImageIO’s handling of TIFF images. Viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved bounds checking.
Recovery Mode
CVE-ID: CVE-2010-0038
Available for: iPhone OS 1.0 through 3.1.2, iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 3.1.2
Impact: A person with physical access to a locked device may be able to access the user’s data
Description: A memory corruption issue exists in the handling of a certain USB control message. A person with physical access to the device could use this to bypass the passcode and access the user’s data. This issue is addressed through improved handling of the USB control message.
WebKit
CVE-ID: CVE-2009-3384
Available for: iPhone OS 1.0 through 3.1.2, iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 3.1.2
Impact: Accessing a maliciously crafted FTP server could result in an unexpected application termination, information disclosure, or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple input validation issues exist in WebKit’s handling of FTP directory listings. Accessing a maliciously crafted FTP server may lead to information disclosure, unexpected application termination, or execution of arbitrary code. This update addresses the issues through improved parsing of FTP directory listings. Credit to Michal Zalewski of Google Inc. for reporting these issues.
WebKit
CVE-ID: CVE-2009-2841
Available for: iPhone OS 1.0 through 3.1.2, iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 3.1.2
Impact: Mail may load remote audio and video content when remote image loading is disabled
Description: When WebKit encounters an HTML 5 Media Element pointing to an external resource, it does not issue a resource load callback to determine if the resource should be loaded. This may result in undesired requests to remote servers. As an example, the sender of an HTML-formatted email message could use this to determine that the message was read. This issue is addressed by generating resource load callbacks when WebKit encounters an HTML 5 Media Element.
Via [ComputerWorld]
Read the Apple Support Overview