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Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2019-8660

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.3 / 10.14.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 memory corruption issue was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.4, macOS Mojave 10.14.6, tvOS 12.4, watchOS 5.3. A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or 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 · moderate confidence

This is a memory corruption vulnerability in Apple operating systems (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS) that was addressed through improved input validation. The flaw allows remote attackers to potentially achieve arbitrary code execution or cause unexpected application termination.

MitigationApply the Apple security updates for the affected products (iOS 12.4, macOS Mojave 10.14.6, tvOS 12.4, watchOS 5.3 and later) to remediate the vulnerability.

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:< 12.4
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:< 10.14.6
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 12.4
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 5.3

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 the Apple operating system
    Determine which Apple OS is running on the device: iOS (iPhone), macOS (Mac), tvOS (Apple TV), or watchOS (Apple Watch)
    Affected if Any Apple OS is in use
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone/iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About and note the version number. Alternatively, use iTunes or Finder to check the iOS version connected to a computer
    Affected if iOS version is below 12.4 (e.g., 12.3.x or earlier)
  3. Check macOS version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number displayed
    Affected if macOS version is below 10.14.6 (e.g., 10.14.5 or earlier)
  4. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on the Apple TV device
    Affected if tvOS version is below 12.4 (e.g., 12.3.x or earlier)
  5. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, and note the watchOS version. Alternatively, check on Apple Watch via Settings > General > About
    Affected if watchOS version is below 5.3 (e.g., 5.2.x or earlier)

The environment is affected if any Apple device runs an OS version lower than the fixed releases (iOS 12.4, macOS 10.14.6, tvOS 12.4, watchOS 5.3).

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 5.3 / 10.14.6 / 12.4 or later
Fixed in 5.310.14.612.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the Apple security updates for the affected products (iOS 12.4, macOS Mojave 10.14.6, tvOS 12.4, watchOS 5.3 and later) to remediate the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 12.4 (iPhone), macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (Mac), tvOS 12.4 (Apple TV), or watchOS 5.3 (Apple Watch)

  1. Identify the Apple device type (iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, or Apple Watch) affected by this vulnerability
  2. Check the current operating system version on the device
  3. For iPhone: Navigate to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 12.4
  4. For Mac: Open System Preferences > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Mojave 10.14.6
  5. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and upgrade to tvOS 12.4
  6. For Apple Watch: On the iPhone, open Watch app, go to My Watch > General > Software Update and upgrade to watchOS 5.3
  7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the OS version matches the fixed release

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

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2019-8660 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