CVE-2015-5935
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 · uneditedImageIO in Apple iOS before 9.1, OS X before 10.11.1, and watchOS before 2.0.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted metadata in an image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5936, CVE-2015-5937, and CVE-2015-5939.
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Apple's ImageIO framework when parsing crafted metadata in image files. Successful exploitation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.
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<= 9.0.2<= 10.11.0<= 2.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your Apple operating systemDetermine if the device runs iOS (iPhone), macOS (Mac), or watchOS (Apple Watch). This can be done via system settings or system_profiler on macOS.Affected if Running any of the three affected OS types (iOS, macOS, or watchOS)
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Check iOS versionOn iPhone, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number. Compare against the affected range: versions 9.0.2 and below are vulnerable.Affected if iOS version is 9.0.2 or lower
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Check macOS versionOn Mac, go to About This Mac (Apple menu > About This Mac) and note the OS X version number. Compare against the affected range: OS X 10.11.0 and below are vulnerable.Affected if macOS (OS X) version is 10.11.0 or lower
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Check watchOS versionOn Apple Watch, open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, and note the watchOS version. Compare against the affected range: versions 2.0.0 and below are vulnerable.Affected if watchOS version is 2.0.0 or lower
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Assess image processing exposureDetermine if the system processes untrusted or user-supplied image files through any application (browsers, email clients, messaging apps, image editors). ImageIO is invoked automatically when parsing image metadata.Affected if The system processes or renders image files from untrusted sources
A user is affected if they are running iOS 9.0.2 or earlier, macOS 10.11.0 or earlier, or watchOS 2.0.0 or earlier, AND the system processes image files with crafted metadata.
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.
From vendor dataApply vendor-supplied patches by updating to iOS 9.1+, OS X 10.11.1+, or watchOS 2.0.1+ as appropriate for affected devices.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5935 — 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-2015-5935 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