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Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4615

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.2.2 / 5.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
libxml2 in Apple iOS before 9.3.3, OS X before 10.11.6, iTunes before 12.4.2 on Windows, iCloud before 5.2.1 on Windows, tvOS before 9.2.2, and watchOS before 2.2.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-4614, CVE-2016-4616, and CVE-2016-4619.

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 confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability exists in libxml2, a widely-used XML parsing library, affecting multiple Apple products including iOS, OS X, iTunes, iCloud, tvOS, and watchOS. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to cause denial of service through memory corruption or potentially achieve unspecified other impact via unknown attack vectors.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied updates: iOS 9.3.3+, OS X 10.11.6+, iTunes 12.4.2+ (Windows), iCloud 5.2.1+ (Windows), tvOS 9.2.2+, and watchOS 2.2.2+. As the attack vector is unspecified, network-level filtering is not a reliable workaround; patching is essential.

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
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 9.3.3
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:< 10.11.6
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 9.2.2
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 2.2.2
IcloudApplication
Affected:< 5.2.1
ItunesApplication
Affected:< 12.4.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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. Identify installed Apple products
    Check for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, iTunes, or iCloud installations on devices and systems that you manage
    Affected if Any of these Apple products are present and the version cannot be determined or is below the threshold versions listed below
  2. Check iOS version
    On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number (e.g., 9.3.2)
    Affected if Version is lower than 9.3.3
  3. Check macOS version
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac and note the OS X version (e.g., 10.11.5)
    Affected if OS X version is lower than 10.11.6
  4. Check iTunes version
    Open iTunes, go to iTunes menu > About iTunes and note the version number (e.g., 12.4.1)
    Affected if iTunes version is lower than 12.4.2 (Windows) or version cannot be determined on Windows
  5. Check tvOS or watchOS version
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version; on Apple Watch, open the Watch app on iPhone and go to General > About
    Affected if tvOS version is lower than 9.2.2 or watchOS version is lower than 2.2.2
  6. Compare against affected versions
    Review all identified Apple product versions and compare each against its specific threshold: iOS 9.3.3+, OS X 10.11.6+, iTunes 12.4.2+, tvOS 9.2.2+, watchOS 2.2.2+
    Affected if Any installed product version falls below its respective threshold, indicating the libxml2 vulnerability is present

If any Apple product (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, iTunes) is installed at a version below the minimum safe version for that product, the environment is affected by CVE-2016-4615.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.2.2 / 5.2.1 / 9.2.2 or later
Fixed in 2.2.25.2.19.2.2
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied updates: iOS 9.3.3+, OS X 10.11.6+, iTunes 12.4.2+ (Windows), iCloud 5.2.1+ (Windows), tvOS 9.2.2+, and watchOS 2.2.2+. As the attack vector is unspecified, network-level filtering is not a reliable workaround; patching is essential.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 9.3.3 / macOS 10.11.6 / tvOS 9.2.2 / watchOS 2.2.2 / iTunes 12.4.2 / iCloud 5.2.1

  1. For iPhone OS devices: Update to iOS 9.3.3 or later via Settings > General > Software Update
  2. For Mac OS X users: Update to macOS 10.11.6 or later via Apple Menu > Software Update
  3. For Apple TV users: Update to tvOS 9.2.2 or later via Settings > System > Software Update
  4. For Apple Watch users: Update to watchOS 2.2.2 or later via Watch app on iPhone > General > Software Update
  5. For Windows users with iTunes: Update to iTunes 12.4.2 or later via the Apple Software Update utility
  6. For Windows users with iCloud: Update to iCloud 5.2.1 or later via the Apple Software Update utility

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2016-4615 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