CVE-2016-4627
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 · uneditedIOAcceleratorFamily in Apple iOS before 9.3.3, 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 · high confidenceIOAcceleratorFamily in Apple iOS, tvOS, and watchOS contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that can be exploited by a local user to either escalate privileges or cause a denial of service. The attack vector is local and requires the attacker to have some level of access to the target device.
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< 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 platformDetermine if the device is running iOS, tvOS, or watchOS. On the device, go to Settings > General > About to see the system version.Affected if The device runs any Apple mobile operating system (iOS, tvOS, or watchOS)
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Check the iOS versionOn an iOS device, go to Settings > General > About and look at the Version field. If it shows a version number lower than 9.3.3, the device is in the affected range.Affected if iOS version is below 9.3.3
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Check the tvOS versionOn an Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About and look at the Version field. If it shows a version number lower than 9.2.2, the device is in the affected range.Affected if tvOS version is below 9.2.2
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Check the watchOS versionOn an Apple Watch, open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, go to General > About, and check the watchOS version. If it is below 2.2.2, the device is in the affected range.Affected if watchOS version is below 2.2.2
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Verify IOAcceleratorFamily presenceIOAcceleratorFamily is a kernel framework present on iOS, tvOS, and watchOS devices. It is automatically loaded as part of the kernel extension set and cannot be disabled through user settings. This framework handles graphics acceleration.Affected if The device runs an affected OS version - the vulnerable IOAcceleratorFamily code is present regardless of configuration
If the device runs iOS below 9.3.3, tvOS below 9.2.2, or watchOS below 2.2.2, the IOAcceleratorFamily vulnerability is present and exploitable by a local attacker with device access.
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
Update affected devices to iOS 9.3.3 or later, tvOS 9.2.2 or later, or watchOS 2.2.2 or later to patch the vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4627 — 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-2016-4627 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