Something from Nothing - Exploiting Memory Zeroing in XNU

Explore a critical security vulnerability in the XNU virtual memory subsystem through this 37-minute conference talk from Objective-See Foundation's OBTS v8.0. Dive deep into virtual memory internals as Google security researcher Ian Beer demonstrates how an attacker can exploit memory zeroing to zero-out read-only memory regions. Follow the complete discovery process, including the numerous dead-ends encountered during exploitation attempts, and witness a successful privilege escalation to root on macOS. Learn about the technical challenges of determining whether seemingly minor system quirks represent genuine security threats, and gain insights into advanced exploitation techniques for Apple's kernel. The presentation includes detailed analysis of the vulnerability's mechanics and provides a comprehensive walkthrough of the exploitation methodology that ultimately achieves system compromise.