Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-42837

Critical

Published: 15 December 2022

Published
15 December 2022
Modified
21 April 2025
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0585 90.8th percentile
Risk Priority 23 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2022-42837 is a critical-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 9.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis

CVE-2022-42837 is a URL parsing vulnerability addressed through improved input validation in multiple Apple operating systems. Affected versions include those prior to iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2, and watchOS 9.2. The flaw carries a CVSS score of 9.8 and is associated with CWE-20 improper input validation.

A remote attacker with no authentication required can supply a malicious URL over the network to trigger unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution on the target device. The attack requires no user interaction and impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Apple security updates and corresponding Full Disclosure postings recommend applying the listed OS patches, which remediate the issue via enhanced URL validation logic. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0585 with no material increase observed after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

An issue existed in the parsing of URLs. This issue was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2, watchOS 9.2. A remote user may…

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be able to cause unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
15.0 — 15.7.2 · 16.0 — 16.2
apple
iphone os
15.0 — 15.7.2 · 16.0 — 16.2
apple
macos
13.0
apple
watchos
≤ 9.2

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-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

References