A new vulnerability within iOS 11 was uncovered over the weekend, this time centering upon the QR code scanner in the iPhone camera app. With the new scanning feature in iOS 11, users can open the Camera app on iPhone or iPad, point the device at a QR code, and tap a notification to access whatever the code contains.

In a new report by Infosec, the researchers discovered that QR codes related to website links can potentially trick users by displaying an "unsuspicious" website link in the notification, while actually leading them to a completely different site. Infosec showed this off by creating a QR code that generates a notification to "Open 'facebook.com' in Safari", but then leads to its own website.

iphone qr code bug
Infosec explained that the Camera app isn't properly parsing URLs in QR codes, and appears to be tricked by simply editing URLs with a few extra characters:

The URL embedded in the QR code is: https://xxx\@facebook.com:443@infosec.rm-it.de/

But if you tap it to open the site, it will instead open https://infosec.rm-it.de/

The URL parser of the camera app has a problem here detecting the hostname in this URL in the same way as Safari does. It probably detects “xxx\” as the username to be sent to “facebook.com:443”. While Safari might take the complete string “xxx\@facebook.com” as a username and “443” as the password to be sent to infosec.rm-it.de. This leads to a different hostname being displayed in the notification compared to what actually is opened in Safari.

iOS 11 has faced a number of bugs and issues since its launch last September, including one that was fixed in December that allowed unauthorized access to HomeKit devices.

For the QR code issue, Infosec said that it reported the problem to the Apple security team on December 23, 2017, and as of March 24, 2018 it has not yet been fixed.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

Aluminum213 Avatar
95 months ago
At least we have Animojis!!!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
95 months ago
My god... It’s like we’re at war against vulnerabilities.
This has always been the case and is completely normal. They're just more heavily publicized these days.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scrapesleon Avatar
95 months ago
iOS 11 belongs in the trash
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shareef777 Avatar
95 months ago
Mentioning Spectre/Meltdown is disingenuous and poor writing. Those vulnerabilities have absolutely nothing attributed to Apple. Those are CPU related and every machine with an x86/arm cpu is susceptible to them.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GaryMumford Avatar
95 months ago
My gripe with this MR article is, Why do they have to specifically mention Meltdown and Spectre? This was not a 'specific' iOS11 bug! This affected almost every device running any platform from any manufacturer and is unrelated to specific iOS bugs (of which there are many!!)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pete2106 Avatar
95 months ago
It wouldn't be Monday without a new iOS11 vulnerability but hey, at least we have a new range of watch straps and TV shows to look forward to.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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