Zero-click mobile spyware
Malformed message triggers an exploit chain with no interaction
categoryWireless, mobile, IoT and OT/ICS attacksseverityHighlabnot yet measured
Example: FORCEDENTRY
Classification
18 values: 8 reviewed, 7 imported, 3 derived. What do these mean?
Exploitability
| Attack vector | MalwareSoftware vulnerabilitiesWireless, mobile & IoT/OT |
|---|---|
| Reach (CVSS) | Network |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | None |
| User interaction | Active |
| Attacker skill required | High |
| Resources required | High |
| Likelihood / prevalence | Medium |
| Maturity | Established |
Impact & scope
| Severity | High |
|---|---|
| Impact | AvailabilityConfidentialityIntegrity |
| Environment | Mobile |
| Target asset class | EndpointIdentity |
Detection & response
No linked mitigations or detections yet.
Framework references
- Primary source: https://citizenlab.ca/2021/09/forcedentry-nso-group-imessage-zero-click-exploit-captured-in-the-wild/
- cve: CVE-2021-30860 (primary)
Evidence & sources
- ev-0001 (Cyber Attack Taxonomy) — Name, definition and Example/ID taken verbatim from the 'Wireless, mobile, IoT and OT/ICS attacks' table, line 486 of Cyber-Attack-Taxonomy.md
- ev-0002 (CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog) — CISA KEV lists CVE-2021-30860 as known-exploited (kev=1, ransomware=unknown); added 2021-11-03.
Apple Multiple Products Integer Overflow Vulnerability
- ev-0003 (FIRST EPSS scores) — FIRST EPSS for CVE-2021-30860: epss=0.75994 percentile=0.99506 (score date 2026-09-18).
- ev-0004 (NVD CVE API 2.0) — NVD maps CVE-2021-30860 to weakness(es) CWE-190.