Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-42892

Memory Safety in Apple Macos 12.0 – 12.7.2

Memory Safety
Published
28 March 2024
Modified
04 November 2025
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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0019 9th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-42892 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.6.3, macOS Sonoma 14.2, macOS Monterey 12.7.2. A local attacker may be able to elevate their privileges.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-416

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-28946Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-40404Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-28835Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-32378Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-32387Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43478Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-43222Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-42870Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-41995Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-23514Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

apple
macos
12.0 — 12.7.2 · 13.0 — 13.6.3 · 14.0 — 14.2

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

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.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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
detects

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.

References