CVE-2016-4741
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 · uneditedThe Assets component in Apple iOS before 10 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to block software updates via vectors related to lack of an HTTPS session for retrieving updates.
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 confidenceThe Assets component in Apple iOS before version 10 retrieves software updates over an insecure HTTP connection without HTTPS encryption. This allows a man-in-the-middle attacker positioned on the network to intercept the update traffic and block software updates from being downloaded, potentially preventing critical security patches from reaching the 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<= 9.3.5CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Check the iOS version installed on the deviceOn the device, go to Settings > General > About > Version to see the installed iOS version numberAffected if The version displayed is 9.3.5 or any version lower than 9.3.5 (for example, 9.3.4, 9.3.3, 9.2.x, etc.)
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Confirm the iOS major version is 9 or earlierReview the version number - iOS 9.x versions indicate the device is on the affected branchAffected if The version starts with 9 (such as 9.3.5, 9.3.4, 9.2.2, 9.1, 9.0.2, etc.)
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Verify software update mechanism is in useCheck if the device has ever received updates via Settings > General > Software Update, or confirm the device is configured to check for updates automaticallyAffected if The device uses the native iOS Software Update feature to retrieve updates from Apple servers
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Confirm network accessibility for update trafficDetermine if the device can connect to Apple's update servers (mesu.apple.com, appldnld.apple.com) over HTTP on port 80Affected if The device operates on any network where HTTP traffic to port 80 can be intercepted or blocked (especially untrusted or public WiFi networks)
A device is affected if it runs iOS version 9.3.5 or lower and uses the native Software Update feature, making it susceptible to MITM attacks that can block security updates.
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 dataUpgrade affected devices to iOS 10 or later, which implements HTTPS for software update retrieval. Avoid using untrusted or public networks where MITM attacks could be performed until devices are updated.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4741 — 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-2016-4741 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