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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 14 Jun 2022.
Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4655

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-08-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.3.5 or later.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit 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
The kernel in Apple iOS before 9.3.5 allows attackers to obtain sensitive information from memory via a crafted app.

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

Memory corruption or improper bounds checking in the iOS kernel allows a maliciously crafted application to read kernel memory contents, exposing sensitive information such as credentials, encryption keys, or other data resident in memory.

MitigationApply iOS 9.3.5 or later to patched devices; deploy via MDM for managed devices to ensure coverage.

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:< 9.3.5= 10.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 iOS version on device
    On the iOS device, go to Settings > General > About > Version to view the current iOS version number
    Affected if iOS version is less than 9.3.5 or equals 10.0
  2. Compare version against affected range
    Compare the installed version number (e.g., 9.3.4, 9.3.3, 10.0) to the vulnerable range: versions below 9.3.5 and version 10.0 are affected
    Affected if Installed version falls within < 9.3.5 or = 10.0
  3. Verify kernel is exploitable
    This vulnerability is a kernel flaw that allows a maliciously crafted application to read kernel memory; the presence of the flaw is tied to the iOS version, not a specific configuration
    Affected if Device runs a vulnerable iOS version and has ability to install applications

A device is affected if it runs iOS version lower than 9.3.5 or exactly version 10.0.

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 9.3.5 or later
Fixed in 9.3.5
Interim mitigation

Apply iOS 9.3.5 or later to patched devices; deploy via MDM for managed devices to ensure coverage.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 9.3.5 or later

  1. Backup your iOS device using iTunes or iCloud
  2. Connect your device to a computer and open iTunes
  3. Select your device and click 'Check for Update'
  4. Download and install iOS 9.3.5 or later
  5. After installation, verify the iOS version in Settings > General > About

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

Fix this in Iphone Os Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-4655 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