SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2012-3666

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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted websites. Affects Safari before version 6.0.

MitigationUpgrade to Safari 6.0 or later, or ensure all WebKit-based browsers are updated to patched versions.

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. Verify Safari is installed
    Check for Safari application in /Applications folder or run: ls /Applications | grep -i safari
    Affected if Safari application exists on the system
  2. Retrieve installed Safari version
    Open Safari, then go to Safari menu > About Safari, or run: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari -version
    Affected if Version displayed is below 6.0 (specifically 5.1.7 or earlier)
  3. Confirm WebKit usage (if using third-party browser)
    If using a WebKit-based browser other than Safari, check its version and confirm it uses vulnerable WebKit rendering engine
    Affected if Browser uses unpatched WebKit version from before June 2012

User is affected if Safari version is 5.1.7 or lower, or if a WebKit-based browser contains an older unpatched WebKit library.

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, or ensure all WebKit-based browsers are updated to patched versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Safari 6.0 or later (bundled with OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 and later)

  1. Check the current Safari version by going to Safari > About Safari
  2. Ensure the operating system is updated to OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) or later, as Safari 6.0 requires it
  3. Open the App Store application and navigate to the Updates tab
  4. Install any available Safari updates, or install the OS X update that includes Safari 6.0
  5. After updating, verify the Safari version is 6.0 or later by checking Safari > About Safari
Caveat Safari 6.0 requires OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) or later; older Mac systems running OS X 10.7 or earlier cannot upgrade to Safari 6.0 and will remain vulnerable

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

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-3666 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-3666 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