dbcve.org
Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8553

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2 / 12.2 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.2, tvOS 12.2, watchOS 5.2. Clicking a malicious SMS link may lead to arbitrary code execution.

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 memory corruption vulnerability in the SMS handling component of iOS, tvOS, and watchOS allows arbitrary code execution when a user clicks a malicious SMS link. The issue was addressed through improved input validation in the affected components.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to iOS 12.2+, tvOS 12.2+, or watchOS 5.2+ to apply the memory validation fixes. Users should avoid clicking untrusted SMS links.

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:< 12.2
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 12.2
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 5.2

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

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check iOS version on iPhone or iPad
    Navigate to Settings > General > About on the device and record the Version number, or query via MDM/Apple Configurator for managed devices
    Affected if Version number is below 12.2
  2. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Navigate to Settings > General > About > Version on the Apple TV, or query via MDM for managed devices
    Affected if Version number is below 12.2
  3. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on the paired iPhone and go to General > About, or go to Settings > General > About directly on the Apple Watch
    Affected if Version number is below 5.2
  4. Verify SMS service is active
    Confirm that the Messages app and cellular SMS/MMS service are enabled on the device (this is the default state)
    Affected if SMS is enabled and the OS version falls within the vulnerable ranges

The device is affected if it runs any version of iOS below 12.2, tvOS below 12.2, or watchOS below 5.2 and has SMS messaging functionality enabled.

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 5.2 / 12.2 or later
Fixed in 5.212.2
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to iOS 12.2+, tvOS 12.2+, or watchOS 5.2+ to apply the memory validation fixes. Users should avoid clicking untrusted SMS links.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,456.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-8553 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-8553 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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