Security Resilience

CVE-2023-27931

Apple Ipados ≤ 16.4

Published
08 May 2023
Modified
29 January 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
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:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0024 14th percentile
Risk Priority 42 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-2023-27931 is a medium-severity Observable Discrepancy (CWE-203) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Steganography (T1001.002); ranked at the 14th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.3, macOS Monterey 12.6.3, iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, macOS Big Sur 11.7.3, tvOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4. An app may be able to access…

more

user-sensitive data.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-203

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 →
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 →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011.001 Exfiltration Over Bluetooth Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over Bluetooth rather than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-23218Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-64713Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-27839Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-28200Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-54476Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-28202Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-54517Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27942Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41071Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-31255Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 16.4
apple
iphone os
≤ 16.4
apple
macos
≤ 13.3
apple
tvos
≤ 16.4
apple
watchos
≤ 9.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

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.

SC-30 Concealment and Misdirection
addresses: CWE-203

Misdirection can normalize or falsify responses to eliminate observable discrepancies that aid reconnaissance.

SC-31 Covert Channel Analysis
addresses: CWE-203

Observable discrepancies in system behavior can be modulated to create covert storage or timing channels; the required analysis detects and constrains such avenues.

SI-11 Error Handling
addresses: CWE-203

Prevents attackers from using observable differences in error responses to infer internal system details or state.

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 prevent observable response discrepancies via consistent error handling and timing.

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.6.8 Information security event reporting partial match
removes

References