CVE-2016-1811
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 9.3.2, OS X before 10.11.5, tvOS before 9.2.1, and watchOS before 2.2.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) 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 · high confidenceImageIO framework in Apple iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when processing a specially crafted image file. An attacker can trigger this denial of service condition by enticing a user to open a maliciously crafted image, causing the application to crash.
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< 2.2.1< 9.2.1< 9.3.2< 10.11.5CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 the Apple device and OS versionOn iOS: Settings > General > About > Version. On macOS: Apple menu > About This Mac. On tvOS: Settings > General > About > Version. On watchOS: Watch app on iPhone > General > About.Affected if The OS version is below 9.3.2 (iOS), 10.11.5 (macOS), 9.2.1 (tvOS), or 2.2.1 (watchOS)
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Confirm ImageIO framework is presentImageIO is a built-in framework on Apple operating systems and cannot be disabled. This is the default image processing component used by many applications.Affected if The system uses Apple's ImageIO framework for image processing (default behavior on all affected OS versions)
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Check if user can open external image filesDetermine if users have the ability to open image files from external sources through any application that uses ImageIO (Photos, Safari, Mail, Messages, Preview, etc.)Affected if Users can open image files from untrusted or unknown sources on the device
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Verify the exact OS build version if neededOn iOS: Settings > General > About > Build Number. On macOS: Run 'sw_vers' in Terminal.Affected if The build version corresponds to an affected release prior to the security patches
You are affected if your device runs iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS at a version lower than the fixed releases (9.3.2, 10.11.5, 9.2.1, or 2.2.1 respectively) and processes image files from untrusted sources.
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 data2.2.19.2.19.3.2
Apply vendor-supplied security updates: update iOS to 9.3.2 or later, OS X to 10.11.5 or later, tvOS to 9.2.1 or later, and watchOS to 2.2.1 or later. Users should avoid opening images from untrusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1811 — 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-2016-1811 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