SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2015-5798

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-09-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.2 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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 iTunes before 12.3, allows man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via vectors related to iTunes Store browsing, a different vulnerability than other WebKit CVEs listed in APPLE-SA-2015-09-16-3.

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 as used by iTunes before version 12.3 allows a man-in-the-middle attacker on the same network to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via vectors related to iTunes Store browsing. The attacker must intercept traffic during iTunes Store browsing sessions.

MitigationUpdate iTunes to version 12.3 or later to obtain the patched WebKit component. Avoid using untrusted or public networks when browsing the iTunes Store as a defense-in-depth measure.

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:<= 8.0.8
ItunesApplication
Affected:<= 12.2

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
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

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

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. Check iTunes version on Windows or Mac
    Open iTunes, then go to Help > About iTunes (Windows) or iTunes > About iTunes (Mac). The version number appears in the dialog box.
    Affected if The version number displayed is 12.2 or lower (e.g., 12.2, 12.1, 12.0, 11.x)
  2. Check Safari version on Mac
    Open Safari, then go to Safari > About Safari. The version number appears next to 'Safari'.
    Affected if The version number is 8.0.8 or lower (e.g., 8.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.x)
  3. Verify iTunes installation via command line (Windows)
    Open Command Prompt and run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes' /v Version
    Affected if The queried version value is 12.2 or lower
  4. Verify Safari installation via command line (Mac)
    Run this command in Terminal: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari --version
    Affected if The output shows version 8.0.8 or lower

The environment is affected if iTunes version is 12.2 or earlier, or Safari version is 8.0.8 or earlier, and the user browses the iTunes Store over a network where a man-in-the-middle attacker could intercept traffic.

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 12.2
Interim mitigation

Update iTunes to version 12.3 or later to obtain the patched WebKit component. Avoid using untrusted or public networks when browsing the iTunes Store as a defense-in-depth measure.

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5798 — 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-2015-5798 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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