Security Resilience

CVE-2022-48503

Apple Safari ≤ 15.6

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD Exploited
Published
14 August 2023
Modified
23 October 2025
KEV Added
20 October 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.032 88th percentile
Risk Priority 90 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-2022-48503 is a high-severity Improper Validation of Array Index (CWE-129) vulnerability in Apple Safari. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Steganography (T1001.002); ranked in the top 12% 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.

The vulnerability is an insufficient bounds checking issue that affects multiple Apple platforms when processing web content. Impacted software includes iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, and Safari 15.6. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 and is tracked under CWE-129.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by supplying malicious web content that the victim processes in a vulnerable browser or application. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the affected process, requiring only that the user interact with the content such as by visiting a crafted web page.

Apple security advisories for HT213340, HT213341, HT213342, HT213345, and HT213346 state that the issue was resolved through improved bounds checks and recommend installing the listed updates to eliminate the vulnerability. The current EPSS score of 0.0016 indicates low observed exploitation activity.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, Safari 15.6. Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-129
KEV Date Added
20 October 2025

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2022-22675Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
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CVE-2021-30665Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-42856Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30663Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-23296Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-23225Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-23222Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV

Affected Assets

apple
safari
≤ 15.6
apple
ipados
≤ 15.6
apple
iphone os
≤ 15.6
apple
macos
12.0.0 — 12.5
apple
tvos
≤ 15.6
apple
watchos
≤ 8.7

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

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

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and bounds checking that prevent improper array indexing.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References