CVE-2020-3916
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 · uneditedAn access issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4, watchOS 6.2. Setting an alternate app icon may disclose a photo without needing permission to access photos.
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 confidenceA sandbox restriction bypass in iOS 13.4 and earlier versions allowed apps to set alternate app icons in a way that could access and disclose user photos without requesting the normal Photos framework permission. The alternate icon feature inadvertently permitted photo library access outside the intended permission boundaries.
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< 13.4< 13.4< 6.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check iOS version on iPhone or iPadOpen Settings > General > About and look at the Version field. Compare the version number to 13.4.Affected if The version shown is less than 13.4 (for example, 13.3.1, 13.3, 13.2, etc.)
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Check iPadOS version on iPadOpen Settings > General > About and look at the Version field. Compare the version number to 13.4.Affected if The version shown is less than 13.4 and the device is an iPad running iPadOS.
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Check watchOS version on Apple WatchOpen the Watch app on the paired iPhone, go to General > About, and check the watchOS version. Alternatively, on Apple Watch go to Settings > General > About.Affected if The version shown is less than 6.2.
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Identify if alternate app icon feature is usedReview installed apps for custom alternate icons. Check if any app has set or can set an alternate app icon, which triggers the vulnerable code path.Affected if Apps with alternate icon functionality are installed on a device running iOS/iPadOS < 13.4.
A user is affected if their device runs iOS, iPadOS, or watchOS version lower than 13.4 (or 6.2 for watchOS), and they use apps with the alternate icon feature.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data6.213.4
Update affected devices to iOS 13.4/iPadOS 13.4/watchOS 6.2 or later, which contains the sandbox restriction fix that enforces proper photo permission checks before allowing photo access through the alternate icon feature.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3916 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-3916 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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