SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2015-5931

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-10-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.3.0 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 Safari before 9.0.1 and iTunes before 12.3.1, 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-2015-10-21-3 and APPLE-SA-2015-10-21-5.

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 rendering engine used by Safari and iTunes. Remote attackers can achieve arbitrary code execution or cause denial of service through maliciously crafted websites exploiting heap corruption.

MitigationApply vendor patches: update Safari to version 9.0.1 or later, or iTunes to version 12.3.1 or later. Until patched, restrict access to untrusted websites.

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:<= 9.0
ItunesApplication
Affected:<= 12.3.0

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. Identify Safari installation and version on macOS
    Open Safari, then go to Safari > About Safari (or press Cmd+,) to display the version number. Alternatively, run 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep -A5 Safari' in Terminal.
    Affected if The reported version is 9.0 or earlier (for example, 9.0, 8.0.7, 7.1, etc.)
  2. Identify iTunes installation and version on Windows or macOS
    Open iTunes, then go to Help > About iTunes (or press Ctrl+? on Windows / Cmd+? on Mac) to display the version number. On Windows, right-click the iTunes icon, select Properties, and view the Details tab.
    Affected if The reported version is 12.3.0 or earlier (for example, 12.3.0, 12.2.2, 12.1, etc.)
  3. Confirm the WebKit rendering engine is in use
    This vulnerability affects the WebKit engine used by Safari and iTunes for web content rendering. Both products use WebKit by default for browsing functionality. No configuration check is needed as this is the default behavior.
    Affected if Safari or iTunes is installed and used for browsing web content (this is the default state for both products)

A user is affected if they have Safari version 9.0 or earlier, or iTunes version 12.3.0 or earlier, installed and in use.

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 12.3.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches: update Safari to version 9.0.1 or later, or iTunes to version 12.3.1 or later. Until patched, restrict access to untrusted websites.

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5931 — 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-2015-5931 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