Security Resilience

CVE-2023-42916

Memory Safety in Apple Ipados ≤ 15.8.1

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
30 November 2023
Modified
23 October 2025
KEV Added
04 December 2023
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.18 97th percentile
Risk Priority 76 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-2023-42916 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 Data Obfuscation (T1001); 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

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)
CWE-125
KEV Date Added
04 December 2023

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
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 →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
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 →
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 →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28204Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-5030Same product: Apple Macosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-22674Same product: Apple Macosboth on KEV
CVE-2024-53150Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2024-44246Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2014-0160Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2016-1646Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-32402Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-37285Same product: Apple Ipados
CVE-2023-41232Same product: Apple Ipados

Affected Assets

apple
safari
≤ 17.1.2
apple
ipados
≤ 15.8.1 · 16.0 — 16.7.3 · 17.0 — 17.1.2
apple
iphone os
≤ 15.8.1 · 16.0 — 16.7.3 · 17.0 — 17.1.2
apple
macos
14.0 — 14.1.2
fedoraproject
fedora
38, 39
debian
debian linux
11.0, 12.0
webkitgtk
webkitgtk\+
≤ 2.42.3

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

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.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References