CVE-2016-7659
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.2 is affected. macOS before 10.12.2 is affected. watchOS before 3.1.3 is affected. The issue involves the "Audio" component. It allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption and application crash) via a crafted file.
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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in Apple's Audio component allows remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause a denial of service by tricking a user into processing a specially crafted audio file. The flaw exists in audio file parsing logic and leads to heap corruption, enabling code execution in the context of the affected application.
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<= 10.1.1<= 10.12.1<= 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 your Apple device typeDetermine whether the device is an iPhone, Mac computer, or Apple Watch. This is needed because the version ranges differ by device platform.Affected if Device runs iOS, macOS, or watchOS and the OS version is at or below the vulnerable thresholds.
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Check iOS version on iPhone or iPadGo to Settings > General > About and look at the 'Version' field. Compare the version number to 10.1.1.Affected if iOS version is 10.1.1 or earlier.
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Check macOS version on MacClick the Apple menu > About This Mac. Look at the 'macOS' version displayed. Compare to 10.12.1.Affected if macOS version is 10.12.1 or earlier.
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Check watchOS version on Apple WatchOpen the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, and check the watchOS version. Compare to 2.2.2.Affected if watchOS version is 2.2.2 or earlier.
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Verify audio file processing exposureConsider whether the system processes audio files from untrusted sources through any application that handles audio playback or conversion.Affected if The vulnerable OS version is installed AND the system can be tricked into processing specially crafted audio files.
You are affected if your device runs an unpatched iOS 10.1.1 or earlier, macOS 10.12.1 or earlier, or watchOS 2.2.2 or earlier, and an attacker can deliver a specially crafted audio file to be processed by your system.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patches: iOS 10.2 or later, macOS 10.12.2 or later, and watchOS 3.1.3 or later. Until patches are applied, avoid opening audio files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7659 — 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-2016-7659 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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