Security Resilience

CVE-2018-4344

Memory Safety in Apple Iphone Os ≤ 12.0

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
03 April 2019
Modified
23 October 2025
KEV Added
27 June 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.024 84th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2018-4344 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Apple Iphone Os. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 16% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A memory corruption vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-4344 and categorized under CWE-119 was present in Apple platforms prior to iOS 12, macOS Mojave 10.14, tvOS 12, and watchOS 5. The root cause was insufficient memory handling that could be triggered to corrupt process memory, rated at CVSS 7.8 with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

An attacker with the ability to supply a malicious file or input that a local user opens or processes could exploit the flaw to achieve arbitrary code execution or full system compromise without requiring elevated privileges.

Apple security updates resolved the issue by implementing improved memory handling, as described in the vendor advisories at https://support.apple.com/kb/HT209106, https://support.apple.com/kb/HT209107, https://support.apple.com/kb/HT209108, and https://support.apple.com/kb/HT209139. No public information on in-the-wild exploitation is provided in the references.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue affected versions prior to iOS 12, macOS Mojave 10.14, tvOS 12, watchOS 5.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
27 June 2022

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2019-8605Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2025-31200Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2026-20700Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2020-9859Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2020-3837Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30666Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2014-4404Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2021-1782Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2023-38606Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2022-48618Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV

Affected Assets

apple
iphone os
≤ 12.0
apple
mac os x
≤ 10.14
apple
tvos
≤ 12.0
apple
watchos
≤ 5.0

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices (secure coding guidelines, security requirements, testing including code scans and penetration tests, developer training) that reach buffer management and can stop many buffer overruns from reaching production, but leaves a bounded remainder (e.g. flaws in non-software components, incomplete enforcement of guidelines, or post-deployment changes)

blocks

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. least privilege, fail securely, distrust external input, hardening) plus design reviews that can catch and stop buffer-boundary errors before they reach code, but this is only one minority slice of CWE-119's broad surface (language-specific flaws, unsafe library use, compiler/runtime mitigations, and post-deployment instances remain outside its direct scope).

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-119, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-823.

References