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Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2014-1278

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-03-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.0.6 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The ptmx_get_ioctl function in the ARM kernel in Apple iOS before 7.1 and Apple TV before 6.1 allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds memory access and device crash) via a crafted call.

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

The ptmx_get_ioctl function in the ARM kernel of Apple iOS before 7.1 and Apple TV before 6.1 contains an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability. Local users can exploit this flaw via crafted ioctl calls to either escalate privileges to root or cause a denial of service by crashing the device.

MitigationApply the vendor patch by updating affected iOS devices to version 7.1 or later and Apple TV devices to version 6.1 or later.

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
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:<= 7.0.6= 7.0= 7.0.1= 7.0.2= 7.0.3= 7.0.4= 7.0.5
TvosOperating system
Affected:<= 6.0.2= 6.0= 6.0.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/AC:L/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 your Apple device type
    Check if the device is an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (iOS) or an Apple TV (tvOS). This determines which version range applies.
    Affected if Device is an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS, or an Apple TV running tvOS
  2. Check the installed iOS version
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number field.
    Affected if iOS version is 7.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.3, 7.0.4, 7.0.5, or 7.0.6 (any version before 7.1)
  3. Check the installed tvOS version (if Apple TV)
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number field.
    Affected if tvOS version is 6.0, 6.0.1, or 6.0.2 (any version before 6.1)

If the device runs iOS versions 7.0 through 7.0.6 or tvOS versions 6.0 through 6.0.2, the device is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.0.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch by updating affected iOS devices to version 7.1 or later and Apple TV devices to version 6.1 or later.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2014-1278 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