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Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2017-6987

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-05-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.12.4 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
An issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iOS before 10.3.2 is affected. macOS before 10.12.5 is affected. tvOS before 10.2.1 is affected. watchOS before 3.2.2 is affected. The issue involves the "Kernel" component. It allows attackers to bypass intended memory-read restrictions 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 confidence

A Kernel memory-read restriction bypass vulnerability in Apple's iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS that allows a specially crafted application to read kernel memory beyond intended boundaries. The attacker must trick the victim into installing a malicious app.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security updates: iOS 10.3.2 or later, macOS 10.12.5 or later, tvOS 10.2.1 or later, and watchOS 3.2.2 or later.

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:<= 10.3.1
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:<= 10.12.4
TvosOperating system
Affected:<= 10.2
WatchosOperating system
Affected:<= 3.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Check iOS version on iPhone or iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About and look at the 'Version' field
    Affected if Version is 10.3.1 or earlier
  2. Check macOS version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number shown under macOS
    Affected if Version is 10.12.4 or earlier
  3. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Go to Settings > General > About and view the 'Version' number
    Affected if Version is 10.2 or earlier
  4. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    On paired iPhone, open Watch app > My Watch > General > About and read the watchOS version
    Affected if Version is 3.2 or earlier
  5. Review installed applications
    Check for any recently installed applications from unknown or untrusted sources, as the exploit requires a maliciously crafted app to be installed
    Affected if A malicious application has been installed by the user

You are affected if your device runs any of the affected OS versions listed AND a specially crafted malicious application has been installed.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.12.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security updates: iOS 10.3.2 or later, macOS 10.12.5 or later, tvOS 10.2.1 or later, and watchOS 3.2.2 or later.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2017-6987 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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