SafariWeb browser · Apple
CVE-2012-0640
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 · uneditedWebKit in Apple Safari before 5.1.4 does not properly implement "From third parties and advertisers" cookie blocking, which makes it easier for remote web servers to track users via a cookie.
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 confidenceWebKit in Apple Safari before 5.1.4 had a flaw in its 'From third parties and advertisers' cookie blocking implementation, allowing third-party tracking cookies to be set even when users had explicitly enabled this privacy setting.
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
SafariWeb browser
<= 5.1.3= 1.0= 1.0.0= 1.0.0b1= 1.0.0b2= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 1.0b1= 1.1= 1.1.0= 1.1.1CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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 Safari versionOpen Safari, then go to Safari > About Safari (on Mac) or Help > About Safari (on Windows). The version number is displayed in the window that opens.Affected if The installed version is 5.1.3 or earlier, or matches one of these specific versions: 1.0, 1.0.0, 1.0.0b1, 1.0.0b2, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0b1, 1.1, 1.1.0, 1.1.1
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Verify cookie blocking settingGo to Safari > Preferences > Privacy (or Edit > Preferences > Privacy on Windows). Look for the 'Cookies and Website Data' section. Check whether 'Allow' is selected or if one of the blocking options is selected.Affected if Any blocking option is selected (such as 'Block cookies from third parties and advertisers' or 'Block all cookies'), as the vulnerability allows this setting to be bypassed for third-party tracking cookies.
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Confirm third-party cookie exposureVisit a website with third-party tracking (such as an ad-supported site), then open the Safari Privacy Report (Safari > Privacy Report) or inspect stored cookies via Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data.Affected if Third-party cookies from advertisers or trackers are present in the stored data despite having cookie blocking enabled.
A user is affected if they run Safari version 5.1.3 or earlier and have any cookie blocking setting enabled, as the flaw allows third-party tracking cookies to be set regardless of the privacy preference.
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 dataUpgrade Safari to version 5.1.4 or later where the cookie blocking functionality was properly implemented.
Fix this in Safari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-0640 — 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-2012-0640 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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