CVE-2012-0585
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Private Browsing feature in Safari in Apple iOS before 5.1 allows remote attackers to bypass intended privacy settings and insert history entries via JavaScript code that calls the (1) pushState or (2) replaceState method.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Private Browsing feature in Safari on iOS before 5.1 fails to properly block history manipulation via HTML5 pushState and replaceState JavaScript methods. These methods can insert history entries even when Private Browsing is enabled, allowing remote attackers to bypass the intended privacy protection and record browsing activity.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 5.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check iOS version on the deviceGo to Settings > General > About on the iOS device and locate the Version fieldAffected if The displayed version number is lower than 5.1 (for example, 5.0.1, 4.3.5, etc.)
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Confirm Safari is the browser in useVerify that Safari is the default web browser on the iOS device being assessedAffected if Safari is the active browser and the iOS version is below 5.1
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Identify Private Browsing usage contextNote whether users on this device utilize Safari's Private Browsing feature (enabled via the Private button in Safari's tabs interface)Affected if Private Browsing is enabled while running iOS versions prior to 5.1, as the vulnerability allows HTML5 pushState and replaceState methods to record history despite the privacy protection being on
The environment is affected if the iOS device runs Safari on any version prior to 5.1, since the Private Browsing feature in those versions fails to block HTML5 history manipulation methods.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data5.1
Upgrade iOS to version 5.1 or later, which contains Apple's fix for this vulnerability in Safari.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0585 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-0585 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data