CVE-2015-7053
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 9.2, OS X before 10.11.2, tvOS before 9.1, and watchOS before 2.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted image.
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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in Apple's ImageIO framework across iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS. When processing a specially crafted malicious image file, the ImageIO parser fails to properly handle certain image data structures, leading to memory corruption that can be exploited for arbitrary code execution 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<= 10.11.1<= 2.0<= 9.1CVSS 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 device and operating systemDetermine whether the device is running iOS (iPhone/iPad), macOS (Mac), tvOS (Apple TV), or watchOS (Apple Watch). Note that the detection approach differs by platform.Affected if Device runs any of these Apple OS types
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Check iOS versionOn iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number. Compare it to the affected range: 9.1 and earlier.Affected if iOS version is 9.1 or lower
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Check macOS versionOn Mac, click the Apple menu > About This Mac. The version number appears below macOS name (for example, 10.11.1). Compare to affected range: 10.11.1 and earlier.Affected if macOS version is 10.11.1 or lower (10.11.0, 10.11.1)
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Check tvOS versionOn Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version. Compare to affected range: 9.0 and earlier.Affected if tvOS version is 9.0 or lower
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Check watchOS versionOn Apple Watch, open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About > watchOS Version. Compare to affected range: 2.0 and earlier.Affected if watchOS version is 2.0 or lower
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Verify ImageIO framework is in useThe vulnerability exists in the ImageIO framework, which handles image parsing system-wide. This framework is enabled by default on all affected OS versions. No manual configuration check is needed - any use of image rendering (viewing images in apps, Safari, Mail, Messages, etc.) invokes ImageIO.Affected if ImageIO processes a specially crafted malicious image file; the framework is active by default on unpatched systems
You are affected if your device runs iOS 9.1 or earlier, macOS 10.11.1 or earlier, tvOS 9.0 or earlier, or watchOS 2.0 or earlier, and you open untrusted image files.
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 Apple vendor patches: update iOS to 9.2 or later, OS X to 10.11.2 or later, tvOS to 9.1 or later, and watchOS to 2.1 or later. Until patches are applied, avoid opening untrusted image files from unknown sources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-7053 — 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-2015-7053 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
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