CVE-2017-2461
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 10.3 is affected. macOS before 10.12.4 is affected. tvOS before 10.2 is affected. watchOS before 3.2 is affected. The issue involves the "CoreText" component. It allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via a crafted text message.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability exists in Apple's CoreText font rendering engine across iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Remote attackers can exploit this by sending a specially crafted text message that causes excessive resource consumption, potentially rendering the device unresponsive.
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<= 10.2.1<= 10.12.3<= 10.1.1<= 3.1.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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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Identify the operating systemDetermine whether the device runs iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS. This can be done through system settings or the device interface.Affected if Device runs any of the affected Apple operating systems (iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS)
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Check iOS versionOn iOS devices, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number displayed next to 'Version'.Affected if iOS version is 10.2.1 or earlier (any version <= 10.2.1)
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Check macOS versionOn Mac computers, click the Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number displayed (for example, 10.12.3).Affected if macOS version is 10.12.3 or earlier (any version <= 10.12.3)
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Check tvOS versionOn Apple TV devices, go to Settings > General > About > Version and note the version number displayed.Affected if tvOS version is 10.1.1 or earlier (any version <= 10.1.1)
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Check watchOS versionOn Apple Watch, open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, go to General > About, and note the version number. Alternatively, check on the Watch via Settings > General > About.Affected if watchOS version is 3.1.3 or earlier (any version <= 3.1.3)
A device is affected if it runs any version of iOS <= 10.2.1, macOS <= 10.12.3, tvOS <= 10.1.1, or watchOS <= 3.1.3, since the vulnerability exists in the CoreText component of these versions.
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 by updating to iOS 10.3 or later, macOS 10.12.4 or later, tvOS 10.2 or later, or watchOS 3.2 or later.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2017-2461 — 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-2017-2461 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