Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-41974

Memory Safety in Apple Ipados ≤ 15.8.7

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
10 January 2024
Modified
12 March 2026
KEV Added
05 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.014 70th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-41974 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 30% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

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 use-after-free vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-41974 and assigned CWE-416, affects Apple's iOS and iPadOS platforms. The flaw stems from insufficient memory management and can be triggered by a malicious application to achieve arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges. It is resolved in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 as well as iOS 15.8.7 and iPadOS 15.8.7.

An attacker who can persuade a user to run a crafted application on an affected device may exploit the issue without additional privileges beyond local access and user interaction. Successful exploitation grants the ability to run arbitrary code inside the kernel, potentially leading to full device compromise including escalation of privileges and bypass of sandbox restrictions.

Apple security advisories direct users to install the listed updates, which contain the improved memory-management fixes that address the use-after-free condition. The references also include analysis of iOS exploit tooling, indicating that similar memory-corruption primitives have appeared in observed attack chains. The current EPSS score remains low at 0.0022 with no reported material increase.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, iOS 15.8.7 and iPadOS 15.8.7. An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.

CWE(s)
CWE-416
KEV Date Added
05 March 2026

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28205Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2023-43000Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30762Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2025-43511Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2022-22620Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2025-24085Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30661Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2025-43529Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2019-8605Same product: Apple Iphone Osboth on KEV
CVE-2023-42870Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 15.8.7 · 16.0 — 17.0
apple
iphone os
≤ 15.8.7 · 16.0 — 17.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References