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Apple has doubled the maximum Bug Bounty to $2 million for zero-click RCEs –
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“Apple has doubled the rewards for no-click RCEs by increasing bug bounties to $2 million. It has awarded $35 million to 800 researchers since 2020.”
Apple has upped its bug bounty payments, with up to $2 million now available for bugs involving remote code execution without a click. The tech giant has paid $35 million to 800 researchers since 2020.
Apple wants to compensate exploit chains on an equal basis with commercial spyware providers and mercenary groups. The company revealed that the bounties (pilot errors and bypassing the lockout mode) could increase the compensation to more than $5 million.
Apple has increased the scope of the bug bounty to include more attack surfaces, including up to $1 million for wireless vulnerabilities and $300,000 for one-click WebKit sandbox escapes. Additionally, it introduced target tags, which allow researchers to show exploitability of common categories like RCE and TCC bypasses, and once validated, receive faster rewards.
In an effort to promote further study of this critical security measure, Apple is offering a $100,000 bounty for a comprehensive, user-free Gatekeeper bypass on macOS.
apple
| “Our grand prize will be doubled to $2 million for exploit chains that can achieve goals similar to those of highly skilled mercenary spyware attacks.” “Our bounty system, which offers additional rewards for Lockdown Mode bypasses and vulnerabilities found in beta programs, can double that reward, with a maximum payout of more than $5 million. This is the largest payout of any bounty program we know of and the first of its kind in the industry.” “We will compare all new reports against both the old and new frameworks until the revised awards are published online, at which point we will award the largest amount. Although we particularly encourage creative research and complex exploit chains, we will continue to review and reward any reports that have a significant impact on user security, even if they do not fall into one of our published categories.” “We are excited to continue collaborating with you to protect our users!” |
To strengthen defenses, Apple’s Security Engineering and Engineering (SEAR) team investigates complex exploit chains similar to those of mercenary spyware. The Security Bounty now awards larger rewards for five important attack vectors to encourage more in-depth attack research and increases rewards to encourage researchers to discover multi-step, cross-border attacks:
| Current max | New max | |
| Zero click series: A remote attack without user intervention | Million dollars | 2 million dollars |
| One-click series: Remote attack with one-click user interaction | 250 thousand dollars | Million dollars |
| Wireless proximity attack: The attack requires physical proximity to the device | 250 thousand dollars | Million dollars |
| Access to physical devices: An attack that requires physical access to a locked device | 250 thousand dollars | 500 thousand dollars |
| Escape application sandbox: Attack from application sandbox to bypass SPTM | 150 thousand dollars | 500 thousand dollars |
The company prioritizes high payouts for exploit chains that mimic complex, real-world attacks on modern hardware and software and leverage targets’ signals.
Researchers can demonstrate exploit capabilities such as code execution or memory manipulation using Apple’s new target tags. Goal Markers are being integrated into Apple’s operating systems to improve efficiency and trust by allowing the company to automatically validate scores and deliver faster, more visible rewards even before updates are available.
In order to increase remote entry payouts and reduce benefits for less realistic vectors, bonuses are based on the proven effect (result). The company notes that unbound or isolated ingredients are nonetheless acceptable, albeit in smaller quantities.
With its latest smartphones featuring C1/C1X and N1 processors, Apple has expanded coverage to include all radio interfaces, doubling the wireless proximity incentive to $1 million.
Issues affecting the latest devices and operating systems, such as the iPhone 17 with Memory Integrity Enforcement, receive priority in the reward criteria. Rewards are given for outstanding research in beta versions or avoiding lockout mode.
$1,000 bonuses are now given for low-impact reports. In order to defend civil society from mercenary malware, Apple plans to donate 1,000 iPhone 17 devices to them by 2026. Additionally, Apple plans to expand its Security Research Devices program to include iPhone 17 devices, offering priority in rewards for discoveries made on these devices.
About the author
Suraj Kohli Content specialist in technical writing about cybersecurity and information security. He has written many great articles related to cyber security concepts, with the latest trends in cyber awareness and ethical hacking. Find out more about “He”.
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Bug Bounty’s Maximum Limit is Doubled by Apple to $2M for zero-click RCEs
