Apple’s memory-based security is specifically designed to protect users against complex and advanced exploit chains.
EMTE is also being made available to all Apple developers in Xcode
Photo Credit: Apple
Alongside the launch of the iPhone 17 series, Apple has also introduced a new security feature designed to protect users against the most sophisticated malware attacks. Dubbed Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE), it is a memory-based security system which prevents attacks by implementing a new tagging system to verify whenever an on-device system tries to connect to a memory component. The company highlighted that building this system required reorganising on-device memory allocation, the A19 chipset, the operating system, and development tools.
In a blog post, the tech giant detailed the new security system it is introducing with the iPhone 17 series. While Apple already has security measures in place to tackle small-scale and wide-ranging threat attacks, this new memory-based system is aimed at the most sophisticated attacks. Such attacks often target memory safety vulnerabilities.
“Mercenary spyware is historically associated with state actors and uses exploit chains that cost millions of dollars to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices,” the post added.
To tackle this, Apple is introducing Memory Integrity Enforcement or MIE, which is built on the foundation of its secure memory allocators and is coupled with Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension (EMTE) in synchronous mode. Additionally, it is also supported by the company's Tag Confidentiality Enforcement policies. Interestingly, EMTE was built by Arm in 2022.
Breaking it down, the new Apple system assigns a hidden “tag” to every block of on-device memory. Whenever a system attempts to access or use the memory, the tag must match. If it does not, the process crashes safely, preventing an exploit from running.
This security system is built into the chipset and the device, and does not require any user intervention. It is an always-on memory safety protection, which has been optimised to ensure the device does not struggle with performance or battery life. Apple is also making the EMTE system available to all of its developers in Xcode to create an ecosystem-level secure environment.
Apple says it spent five years developing MIE, testing it against both known and potential future exploit techniques. The company claims that in internal trials, the technology successfully blocked most real-world attack strategies, making it far more difficult and costly for threat actors to compromise a device. Importantly, Apple also stresses that the feature is integrated deeply into iOS.
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