CVE-2015-3776
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 · uneditedIOKit in Apple iOS before 8.4.1 and OS X before 10.10.5 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via a malformed plist.
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 confidenceIOKit's plist parsing functionality contains a memory corruption vulnerability when handling malformed property list files. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context (kernel/root) or cause a denial of service via application crash.
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<= 8.4<= 10.10.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your operating systemDetermine whether the system is running Apple iOS or macOS. On iOS, check Settings > General > About. On macOS, click the Apple menu and select About This Mac.Affected if System is Apple iPhone OS or Apple Mac OS X
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Check iOS versionOn iOS device, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number (e.g., 8.4).Affected if iOS version is 8.4 or earlier
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Check macOS versionOn Mac, click Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number (e.g., 10.10.4).Affected if macOS version is 10.10.4 or earlier (e.g., 10.10.0 through 10.10.4)
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Verify IOKit framework presenceIOKit is a core framework present by default in iOS and macOS. On macOS, you can run 'ls /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework' in Terminal to confirm it exists.Affected if IOKit framework is present (which is true for all standard iOS/macOS installations)
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Confirm plist processing vectorsIOKit's plist parsing is invoked when applications or system services load property list files. There is no user-configurable toggle; this is core system functionality. The vulnerability is present in the IOKit version bundled with the affected OS versions above.Affected if Running any iOS version <= 8.4 or macOS version <= 10.10.4 with standard IOKit plist parsing in use
You are affected if the system runs iOS 8.4 or earlier, or macOS 10.10.4 or earlier, as these versions contain the vulnerable IOKit plist parsing code.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Apple's security updates: upgrade iOS to version 8.4.1 or later, and upgrade OS X to version 10.10.5 or later.
iOS 8.4.1+ and OS X 10.10.5+
- For iOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 8.4.1 or later
- For Mac OS X computers: Go to Apple Menu > Software Update and install OS X 10.10.5 or later
- Alternatively, download iOS 8.4.1 from Apple's official iOS restore page and Mac OS X 10.10.5 from the Mac App Store
- After updating, verify the version in Settings > General > About (iOS) or Apple Menu > About This Mac (OS X)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3776 — 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-2015-3776 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