Security Resilience

CVE-2024-23225

Memory Safety in Apple Macos 12.0 – 12.7.4

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
05 March 2024
Modified
17 June 2026
KEV Added
06 March 2024
Patch / 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 0.015 73th percentile
Risk Priority 83 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-2024-23225 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Security Account Manager (T1003.002); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — 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 memory corruption vulnerability addressed through improved input validation affects multiple Apple operating systems, including iOS 16.7.6 and iPadOS 16.7.6, iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, macOS Monterey 12.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.4, macOS Ventura 13.6.5, tvOS 17.4, visionOS 1.1, and watchOS 10.4. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-23225 with a CVSS score of 7.8, resides in kernel-level components and is classified under CWE-787.

An attacker who already possesses arbitrary kernel read and write primitives can exploit the issue to bypass kernel memory protections. This local attack requires no user interaction and can lead to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected device.

Apple security advisories for the listed updates state that the vulnerability has been mitigated by the improved validation changes shipped in the March 2024 releases. The company notes it is aware of reports indicating the issue may have been exploited in the wild prior to patching.

EPSS scores for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0197 shortly after disclosure on 2024-03-07 before receding to the current value of 0.0022, indicating a transient increase in observed exploitation interest.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.7.6 and iPadOS 16.7.6, iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, macOS Monterey 12.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.4, macOS Ventura 13.6.5, tvOS 17.4, visionOS 1.1, watchOS 10.4. An…

more

attacker with arbitrary kernel read and write capability may be able to bypass kernel memory protections. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
06 March 2024

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
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.
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-23296Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30883Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30665Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-22675Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30807Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-32894Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2020-3837Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2020-27930Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-22587Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV
CVE-2022-32917Same product: Apple Ipadosboth on KEV

Affected Assets

apple
ipados
≤ 16.7.6 · 17.0 — 17.4
apple
iphone os
≤ 16.7.6 · 17.0 — 17.4
apple
macos
12.0 — 12.7.4 · 13.0 — 13.6.5 · 14.0 — 14.4
apple
tvos
≤ 17.4
apple
visionos
≤ 1.1
apple
watchos
≤ 10.4

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Input validation can structurally reject or sanitize data that would otherwise trigger an out-of-bounds write.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

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 out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

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.

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References