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SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2015-5821

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 iOS before 9 and iTunes before 12.3, 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-2015-09-16-1 and 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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via a crafted malicious website. Affects iOS devices before version 9 and iTunes before version 12.3. This is a client-side vulnerability requiring user interaction (visiting a malicious page).

MitigationUpdate affected devices to iOS 9 or later and iTunes 12.3 or later. Organizations should deploy these updates via MDM or ensure end-users update. Avoid browsing untrusted websites as a temporary workaround.

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
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:<= 8.4.1

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
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 Safari version on macOS
    Open Safari, click Safari menu > About Safari, or run: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari -version
    Affected if Version displayed is 8.0.8 or lower (for example, 8.0.7, 8.0.6, etc.)
  2. Check iTunes version on Windows or macOS
    Open iTunes, click Help > About iTunes, or run: /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes -version on macOS
    Affected if Version displayed is 12.2 or lower (for example, 12.2.0, 12.1.3, etc.)
  3. Check iOS version on connected iOS device
    Connect iPhone/iPad to computer, open iTunes, select device, look for version number under device name, or check directly on device under Settings > General > About > Version
    Affected if iOS version shown is 8.4.1 or lower (for example, 8.4, 8.3, 8.2, etc.)

You are affected if any installed Safari is version 8.0.8 or lower, any iTunes is version 12.2 or lower, or any connected iOS device runs version 8.4.1 or lower.

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 affected devices to iOS 9 or later and iTunes 12.3 or later. Organizations should deploy these updates via MDM or ensure end-users update. Avoid browsing untrusted websites as a temporary workaround.

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2015-5821 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