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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 18 Jul 2022.
Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8605

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2.1 / 10.14.5 or later.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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 use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.3, macOS Mojave 10.14.5, tvOS 12.3, watchOS 5.2.1. A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges.

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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Apple operating systems allowing a malicious application to execute arbitrary code with system privileges, indicating local privilege escalation.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches by updating to iOS 12.3 or later, macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later, tvOS 12.3 or later, and watchOS 5.2.1 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:< 12.3
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:< 10.14.5
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 12.3
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 5.2.1

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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. Identify your Apple device type
    Determine whether you are running iOS (iPhone), macOS (Mac), tvOS (Apple TV), or watchOS (Apple Watch). Each has a separate version check method.
    Affected if Device runs any of the affected Apple operating systems listed in the CVE.
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone or iPad
    Open Settings > General > About > Version. Compare the displayed version number to 12.3.
    Affected if iOS version is below 12.3 (for example, 12.2.x or earlier).
  3. Check macOS version on Mac
    Open terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion. Compare the displayed version to 10.14.5.
    Affected if macOS version is below 10.14.5 (for example, 10.14.4 or earlier).
  4. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Open Settings > General > About > Version. Compare the displayed version number to 12.3.
    Affected if tvOS version is below 12.3 (for example, 12.2.x or earlier).
  5. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone, go to General > About > Version. Compare the displayed version number to 5.2.1.
    Affected if watchOS version is below 5.2.1 (for example, 5.2 or earlier).

If your device runs any of iOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS at a version lower than 12.3 (iOS/tvOS/watchOS) or 10.14.5 (macOS), your environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.2.1 / 10.14.5 / 12.3 or later
Fixed in 5.2.110.14.512.3
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches by updating to iOS 12.3 or later, macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later, tvOS 12.3 or later, and watchOS 5.2.1 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 12.3, macOS Mojave 10.14.5, tvOS 12.3, watchOS 5.2.1

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 12.3 or later
  2. For Mac: Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or later
  3. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 12.3 or later
  4. For Apple Watch: On your iPhone, open the Watch app, go to General > Software Update and install watchOS 5.2.1 or later
  5. Alternatively, connect devices to a computer and update via iTunes/Finder with the latest IPSW firmware files
Caveat OS updates may introduce compatibility issues with older applications or devices; backup data before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Iphone Os Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-8605 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