Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2018-4313

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0 / 12 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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
A consistency issue existed in the handling of application snapshots. The issue was addressed with improved handling of message deletions. This issue affected versions prior to iOS 12, tvOS 12, watchOS 5.

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 confidence

A consistency issue in iOS, tvOS, and watchOS allowed improper handling of application snapshots in relation to message deletions. The vulnerability allowed snapshot data to potentially persist or display inconsistently after messages were deleted, creating an information disclosure or privacy concern.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to iOS 12 or later, tvOS 12 or later, or watchOS 5 or later to receive the improved message deletion handling in application snapshots.

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:< 12.0
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 12
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 5.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 > Version and note the version number displayed (e.g., 11.4.1)
    Affected if The version starts with a number lower than 12 (for example, 11.x, 10.x, etc.)
  2. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version and note the version number displayed (for example, 11.4)
    Affected if The version number is less than 12 (for example, 11.x, 10.x, etc.)
  3. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    On the paired iPhone, open the Watch app, go to General > About, and check the Version field; alternatively, on the watch go to Settings > General > About > Version
    Affected if The version number is less than 5.0 (for example, 4.x, 3.x, etc.)
  4. Identify messaging application usage
    Check if the device has and uses built-in or third-party messaging applications that handle message deletion
    Affected if The device runs an affected OS version AND has messaging applications installed that create application snapshots

A user is affected if their device runs any version of iOS below 12.0, tvOS below 12, or watchOS below 5.0, and they use messaging features that generate application snapshots.

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 5.0 / 12 / 12.0 or later
Fixed in 5.01212.0
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to iOS 12 or later, tvOS 12 or later, or watchOS 5 or later to receive the improved message deletion handling in application snapshots.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4313 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-4313 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