dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4597

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.11.5 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
QuickTime in Apple OS X before 10.11.6 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted FlashPix bitmap image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-4596, CVE-2016-4600, and CVE-2016-4602.

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

QuickTime in Apple OS X before 10.11.6 contains a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing specially crafted FlashPix bitmap images, allowing remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause a denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to OS X 10.11.6 or later to obtain the patched QuickTime version; alternatively, disable QuickTime if not required.

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
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:<= 10.11.5

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
High
Availability
High

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check OS X version number
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal, or click Apple menu > About This Mac
    Affected if Version is 10.11.5 or earlier (versions 10.11.0 through 10.11.5 are all affected)
  2. Confirm QuickTime Player is installed
    Verify /Applications/QuickTime Player.app exists using Finder or 'ls /Applications/QuickTime Player.app' in Terminal
    Affected if The QuickTime Player application is present on the system
  3. Determine if QuickTime handles image files
    Open a FlashPix (.fpx) image file in QuickTime Player, or attempt to preview it via Quick Look (spacebar on a .fpx file in Finder)
    Affected if QuickTime successfully parses or previews FlashPix images - this confirms the vulnerable code path is reachable

A system is affected if it runs OS X 10.11.5 or earlier AND has QuickTime Player installed AND QuickTime can process FlashPix image files.

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 10.11.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OS X 10.11.6 or later to obtain the patched QuickTime version; alternatively, disable QuickTime if not required.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,488.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4597 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-4597 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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