CVE-2016-4726
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 10, OS X before 10.12, tvOS before 10, and watchOS before 3 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) 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 · high confidenceIOAcceleratorFamily, Apple's graphics accelerator kernel framework, contains a memory corruption vulnerability in iOS before 10, OS X before 10.12, tvOS before 10, and watchOS before 3. The flaw allows a malicious crafted app to achieve arbitrary code execution in a privileged kernel context or trigger memory corruption leading to denial of service.
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< 3.0< 10.0< 10.0< 10.12.0CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 operating system and versionRun 'sw_vers' on macOS, check Settings > About on iOS/tvOS/watchOS, or use 'uname -a' to determine OS family and versionAffected if The OS is Apple-based and the version is below 10.0 for iOS/tvOS/watchOS or below 10.12.0 for macOS
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Confirm IOAcceleratorFamily presenceOn macOS, run 'kextstat | grep -i IOAccelerator' to list loaded IOAccelerator kernel extensionsAffected if The IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension is loaded on a vulnerable OS version
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Check iOS version directlyOn iOS devices, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number (e.g., 9.3.5)Affected if iOS version is 9.x or lower (any version below 10.0)
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Check macOS version directlyOn macOS, click Apple menu > About This Mac to view the OS version (e.g., 10.11.6)Affected if macOS version is 10.11.x or lower (any version below 10.12.0)
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Check tvOS or watchOS versionOn Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Version. On Apple Watch, open the Watch app on iPhone > General > AboutAffected if tvOS version is below 10.0 or watchOS version is below 3.0
You are affected if any Apple device runs iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS at versions below the respective fixed releases (iOS 10+, macOS 10.12+, tvOS 10+, watchOS 3+) and utilizes the IOAcceleratorFamily graphics kernel framework.
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 data3.010.010.12.0
Apply vendor-supplied updates for iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS to the versions that address CVE-2016-4726. Prioritize patching given the high CVSS score and privileged code execution capability.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4726 — 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-2016-4726 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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