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SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2016-1785

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-03-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
The Page Loading implementation in WebKit in Apple iOS before 9.3 and Safari before 9.1 mishandles character encoding during access to cached data, which allows remote attackers to bypass the Same Origin Policy and obtain sensitive information via a crafted web site.

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

A Same Origin Policy bypass vulnerability in WebKit's Page Loading implementation stems from improper handling of character encoding when accessing cached data. Attackers can exploit this by hosting a crafted website that manipulates encoding to access sensitive information from other origins.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to iOS 9.3 or later and browsers to Safari 9.1 or later to obtain the vendor patch that corrects character encoding handling in the page loading cache access logic.

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:<= 9.0.3
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:<= 9.2.1

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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, select About Safari. The version number displays next to 'Safari'.
    Affected if Version displays 9.0.3 or earlier (for example 9.0.3, 9.0.2, 9.0.1, etc.)
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone or iPad
    Open Settings app, go to General, tap About. The version number displays next to 'Version'.
    Affected if Version displays 9.2.1 or earlier (for example 9.2.1, 9.2, 9.1, 9.0.x, etc.)
  3. Verify WebKit component version (if accessible)
    In Safari, go to Develop menu, select WebKit Version. This displays the underlying WebKit build number.
    Affected if WebKit version corresponds to Safari builds <= 9.0.3 (WebKit builds prior to the security patch for this issue)

If Safari is version 9.0.3 or earlier on macOS, or iOS is version 9.2.1 or earlier on iPhone/iPad, the browser is vulnerable to the Same Origin Policy bypass via character encoding manipulation in cached page access.

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 9.2.1
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to iOS 9.3 or later and browsers to Safari 9.1 or later to obtain the vendor patch that corrects character encoding handling in the page loading cache access logic.

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-1785 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