dbcve.org
Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2016-4702

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0 / 10.0 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
Audio in Apple iOS before 10, OS X before 10.12, tvOS before 10, and watchOS before 3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) 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 confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in the Audio subsystem of Apple iOS before 10, OS X before 10.12, tvOS before 10, and watchOS before 3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors. The vulnerability has a CVSS base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL), indicating network-exploitable code execution without authentication.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to iOS 10 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, tvOS 10 or later, or watchOS 3 or later. Apply operating system security patches as part of regular patch management cadence.

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:< 10.0
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:< 10.12.0
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 10.0
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 3.0

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
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 the Apple device and OS type
    Determine whether the device is an iPhone/iPad/iPod (iOS), Mac (macOS/OS X), Apple TV (tvOS), or Apple Watch (watchOS). Each platform has its own version numbering and affected range.
    Affected if The device runs any Apple OS and the version falls into the affected ranges below.
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
    On the device, go to Settings > General > About > Version. Alternatively, connect the device to a computer with iTunes or use ideviceinfo (if available) to retrieve the OS version.
    Affected if >The installed iOS version is 9.x or lower (for example, 9.3.5). Versions below 10.0 are affected.
  3. Check macOS or OS X version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu and select About This Mac, or open Terminal and run 'sw_vers'. The version appears as macOS X.X.X or OS X X.X.
    Affected if The installed version is below 10.12.0 (for example, 10.11.6). Versions below 10.12.0 are affected.
  4. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    On Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version. The version number is displayed on this screen.
    Affected if The installed tvOS version is below 10.0 (for example, 9.2.2). Versions below 10.0 are affected.
  5. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    On the paired iPhone, open the Watch app, go to General > About, and read the watchOS version. Alternatively, check Settings > General > About on the Apple Watch itself.
    Affected if The installed watchOS version is below 3.0 (for example, 2.3.2). Versions below 3.0 are affected.

If any Apple device runs an OS version below the fixed releases (iOS 10.0, macOS 10.12.0, tvOS 10.0, or watchOS 3.0), the device is vulnerable to this memory corruption flaw in the Audio subsystem.

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 3.0 / 10.0 / 10.12.0 or later
Fixed in 3.010.010.12.0
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to iOS 10 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, tvOS 10 or later, or watchOS 3 or later. Apply operating system security patches as part of regular patch management cadence.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 10.0+ / macOS 10.12+ / tvOS 10.0+ / watchOS 3.0+ (depending on device type)

  1. Identify the Apple device type (iPhone/iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or Apple Watch)
  2. Check the current OS version on the device
  3. For iPhone/iPad: Navigate to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 10.0 or later
  4. For Mac: Open System Preferences > Software Update and upgrade to macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later
  5. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and upgrade to tvOS 10.0 or later
  6. For Apple Watch: Use the Watch app on iPhone to update to watchOS 3.0 or later
  7. Ensure device is connected to power and Wi-Fi before applying update
  8. Verify the update was successful by checking the OS version after reboot
Caveat Upgrading to major OS versions may remove support for older applications; review app compatibility before upgrading

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

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4702 — 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-2016-4702 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