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SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2012-3638

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 · high confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit (used by Apple Safari before version 6.0) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via a crafted malicious website. The vulnerability stems from improper memory handling during webpage rendering.

MitigationUpgrade to Safari 6.0 or later to remediate. Alternatively, apply Apple's security updates from the referenced advisory (APPLE-SA-2012-07-25-1). Avoid visiting untrusted websites until patched.

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. Confirm Safari is installed
    On macOS, check /Applications for Safari.app or run 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep -i safari'. On Windows, check C:\Program Files\Safari or C:\Program Files (x86)\Safari for safari.exe
    Affected if Safari is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Safari version
    Open Safari, go to Safari > About Safari (on macOS) or Help > About Safari (on Windows). Alternatively, run 'defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString' on macOS or check the file properties of safari.exe on Windows
    Affected if Version displayed is 5.1.7 or earlier, or any of these: 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
  3. Verify WebKit is the rendering engine
    In Safari, go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced and ensure 'Show Develop menu' is enabled. Then Develop > WebKit Version will display the WebKit version. This confirms Safari uses the affected WebKit rendering engine
    Affected if WebKit is the active rendering engine (default for Safari versions before 6.0)
  4. Assess web browsing exposure
    Consider whether the system is used for browsing the internet or rendering untrusted web content. This vulnerability is triggered by visiting a crafted malicious website
    Affected if The system is used to browse websites and the Safari version is vulnerable

If Safari version is 5.1.7 or earlier (or any listed affected version) and the browser is used to visit websites, the system is vulnerable to remote code execution via malicious web pages.

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

Upgrade to Safari 6.0 or later to remediate. Alternatively, apply Apple's security updates from the referenced advisory (APPLE-SA-2012-07-25-1). Avoid visiting untrusted websites until patched.

Recommended fix High confidence

Safari 6.0 or later (requires OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later)

  1. 1. Determine the current Safari version by clicking Safari > About Safari
  2. 2. If running Safari 5.1.7 or earlier on OS X 10.7.5 or earlier, upgrade the operating system to OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or later to obtain Safari 6.0 or later
  3. 3. For systems that cannot upgrade to OS X 10.8+, consider upgrading to a newer Mac that supports the latest Safari version
  4. 4. Alternatively, if the system supports it, upgrade to macOS versions that include patched Safari versions (Safari 7.0+ on Mavericks, Safari 9.0+ on El Capitan, etc.)
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the Safari version is 6.0 or higher via Safari > About Safari
Caveat Upgrading to Safari 6.0+ requires upgrading to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later; older Macs may not support this OS version and may need hardware replacement

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

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2012-3638 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