AirPlay Hacked: Your Mac, Speakers, and Car at Risk from 23 Vulnerabilities!

Your Mac, iPhone, or even your car could be hacked without you clicking on anything. These “zero-click” attacks exploit severe vulnerabilities in the AirPlay protocol.

Zero-click, CVE, and Full Control: Unpacking AirBorne

Revealed by Oligo Security and further reported by Kaspersky in early May 2025, the set of vulnerabilities known as AirBorne originated from a series of critical flaws found in Apple’s AirPlay protocol and its development kit.

In total, 23 vulnerabilities were identified, leading to 17 CVEs (e.g., CVE-2025-24252). Some of these vulnerabilities allow for remote code execution without any user interaction (zero-click attacks). The combination of CVE-2025-24252 and CVE-2025-24206 is particularly alarming as it enables full control over a Mac with no interaction, provided that the AirPlay receiver is set to “Everyone” or “Anyone on the same network.”

AirBorne in Action: Listen to Your Conversations or Lock Your Car

The most concerning aspect of these vulnerabilities is their wormable potential. Once an initial device is compromised (such as a Mac or an AirPlay speaker), the malicious code can automatically spread to other vulnerable devices on the same Wi-Fi networks.

An attacker could run arbitrary code in your car’s infotainment system, making you listen to music by Francis Lalanne against your will! Worse yet, other possible scenarios include eavesdropping on your conversations inside the vehicle, tracking your movements, altering your GPS destination, or even causing your car to run out of fuel.

Within a corporate network, a compromised shared AirPlay speaker could serve as a gateway to deploy ransomware, extract sensitive data, or install a backdoor.

5 Steps to Block AirPlay Attacks Today

1. Update your Macs, iPhones, and iPads immediately
2. Disable AirPlay when not in use (ideally)
3. Limit access permissions. Go to System Settings > General > AirDrop and Handoff > Allow AirPlay for
   Choose the “Active User” option rather than the other two.
4. Enhance peripheral security
   • Block port 7000 (used by AirPlay) with your security software’s firewall like Intego NetBarrier.
   • Install antivirus software on your Mac and security software on your iPhone