CVE-2023-42916
Memory Safety in Apple Ipados ≤ 15.8.1
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-42916 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Apple Ipados. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 3% 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.
CVE-2023-42916 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) that affects web content processing in iOS, iPadOS, macOS Sonoma, and Safari. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation and was corrected in iOS 17.1.2, iPadOS 17.1.2, macOS Sonoma 14.1.2, and Safari 17.1.2. With a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.5, the issue permits remote disclosure of sensitive information when a user processes crafted web content.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the vulnerability by delivering malicious web content that triggers the out-of-bounds read, resulting in leakage of process memory without requiring elevated privileges. User interaction is necessary, typically in the form of visiting a hostile website or opening a malicious link.
Apple has released the listed updates to address the issue, and the referenced full-disclosure advisories document the availability of these patches along with the affected version ranges. The vendor also notes awareness of a report indicating that the vulnerability may have been exploited in the wild against iOS versions prior to 16.7.1. The current EPSS remains low at 0.0005 with no indicated upward trajectory.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-47337
Vulnerability Data
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2, macOS Sonoma 14.1.2, Safari 17.1.2. Processing web content may disclose sensitive information. Apple is aware of a report that this issue…
more
may have been exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 16.7.1.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 04 December 2023
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
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Affected Assets
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.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.