Security Resilience

CVE-2023-28202

Auth Bypass in Apple Ipados ≤ 16.5

Auth Bypass
Published
23 June 2023
Modified
05 December 2024
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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 41 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-2023-28202 is a medium-severity Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password (CWE-640) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked at the 11th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

This issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5, watchOS 9.5, tvOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4. An app firewall setting may not take effect after exiting the Settings app.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-640

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection 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 →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1010 Application Window Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of open application windows.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-23288Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-23218Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27931Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2024-54517Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-27942Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2026-28987Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41071Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-31255Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-42898Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2025-43329Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 16.5
apple
iphone os
≤ 16.5
apple
macos
13.0 — 13.4
apple
tvos
≤ 16.5
apple
watchos
≤ 9.5

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.

IA-5 Authenticator Management
addresses: CWE-640

Establishing procedures for lost or compromised authenticators addresses weak password recovery mechanisms.

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.AA-01 partial match
blocks

Credential lifecycle management directly includes password reset/recovery flows.

PR.AA-02 partial match
blocks

Identity proofing is the core control that prevents weak or bypassed recovery mechanisms.

PR.AA-03 partial match
blocks

Authentication policy covers strength/MFA but does not address recovery path weaknesses.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC reduces implementation flaws but is not specific to password-recovery design.

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
degrades

Strong authentication-information lifecycle rules directly address weak password-recovery flows.

A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References