CVE-2016-4626
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 · uneditedIOHIDFamily in Apple iOS before 9.3.3, OS X before 10.11.6, tvOS before 9.2.2, and watchOS before 2.2.2 allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceIOHIDFamily kernel driver in Apple iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that can be exploited by a local attacker to either escalate privileges to kernel level or cause a denial of service. The vulnerability exists in the Human Interface Device driver component.
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< 9.3.3< 10.11.6< 9.2.2< 2.2.2CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Apple device and operating system versionOn iOS: Settings > General > About > Version. On macOS: Run 'sw_vers' in Terminal or check System Preferences > About. On tvOS: Settings > General > About > Version. On watchOS: Open the Watch app on paired iPhone > My Watch > About.Affected if The OS version cannot be determined or is below the affected ranges
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Compare the iOS version against the affected rangeIf the device is an iPhone or iPad, verify the iOS version from Settings > General > About > Version. Compare the version number to the affected range: versions prior to 9.3.3 are vulnerable.Affected if iOS version is less than 9.3.3
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Compare the macOS version against the affected rangeIf the device is a Mac, run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check System Preferences > About. Compare the version to the affected range: versions prior to 10.11.6 are vulnerable.Affected if macOS version is less than 10.11.6 (for example, 10.11.5, 10.11.4, etc.)
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Compare the tvOS version against the affected rangeIf the device is an Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version. Compare to the affected range: versions prior to 9.2.2 are vulnerable.Affected if tvOS version is less than 9.2.2
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Compare the watchOS version against the affected rangeIf the device is an Apple Watch, check via the Watch app on paired iPhone: My Watch > General > About > watchOS. Compare to the affected range: versions prior to 2.2.2 are vulnerable.Affected if watchOS version is less than 2.2.2
The environment is affected if the installed Apple OS (iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS) matches the device type and falls below the minimum fixed version (9.3.3 for iOS, 10.11.6 for macOS, 9.2.2 for tvOS, 2.2.2 for watchOS).
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 data2.2.29.2.29.3.3
Apply Apple's security updates: iOS 9.3.3 or later, OS X 10.11.6 or later, tvOS 9.2.2 or later, watchOS 2.2.2 or later. For systems that cannot be updated, restrict local access and physical access to trusted personnel only.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4626 — 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-2016-4626 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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