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SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2012-3597

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-07-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.1.7 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
WebKit, as used in Apple Safari before 6.0, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via a crafted web site, a different vulnerability than other WebKit CVEs listed in APPLE-SA-2012-07-25-1.

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 · moderate confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit (used by Apple Safari before 6.0) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via a crafted website. This is a different vulnerability than other WebKit CVEs in the same Apple security advisory.

MitigationUpdate Apple Safari to version 6.0 or later to apply the vendor patch that addresses this memory corruption vulnerability.

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
Affected:<= 5.1.7= 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

CVSS 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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Safari version
    Open Safari, click Safari menu, select About Safari. Alternatively, check /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist for CFBundleShortVersionString, or run `defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString` in Terminal.
    Affected if The version displayed is 5.1.7 or lower, or matches any 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, or 1.1.1.
  2. Confirm WebKit is the rendering engine
    Safari uses WebKit as its rendering engine by default. This is the default configuration and cannot be changed by the user in standard Safari installations.
    Affected if The browser is using WebKit as its rendering engine (default for Safari).
  3. Verify attack surface exposure
    This vulnerability is triggered by visiting a crafted malicious website. Check browser history or network logs for any suspicious or untrusted websites visited around 2012 when this vulnerability was disclosed.
    Affected if The user visited untrusted or malicious websites while running an affected Safari version.

A user is affected if they have Safari version 5.1.7 or lower, or one of the specific older versions listed, and use WebKit as the rendering engine (standard Safari configuration).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.1.7
Interim mitigation

Update Apple Safari to version 6.0 or later to apply the vendor patch that addresses this memory corruption vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Safari 6.0 or later

  1. Open the App Store application on macOS
  2. Click on the 'Updates' tab in the App Store
  3. Look for Safari update in the list of available updates
  4. Click 'Update' next to Safari to install version 6.0 or later
  5. Alternatively, download Safari from the official Apple website if automatic updates are not available
  6. Restart the browser after the update completes
  7. Verify the installed version by going to Safari > About Safari
Caveat Safari 6.0 introduced changes to JavaScript engine and HTML5 support; some legacy web applications may not function correctly

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-3597 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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