dbcve.org
XcodeApplication · Apple

CVE-2022-22601

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.3 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in Xcode 13.3. Opening a maliciously crafted file may lead to 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 · high confidence

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Xcode 13.3 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause application termination via a maliciously crafted file. The issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.

MitigationUpdate Xcode to version 13.3 or later to apply the bounds checking fix.

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
XcodeApplication
Affected:< 13.3

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
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. Check Xcode installation path
    Run `xcode-select -p` in Terminal to locate the active Xcode developer directory
    Affected if The command returns a path pointing to an Xcode installation
  2. Identify installed Xcode version
    Run `xcodebuild -version` or open Xcode and go to Xcode > About Xcode to view the version number
    Affected if The displayed version is below 13.3 (for example, 13.2, 13.2.1, 13.1, etc.)
  3. Verify all Xcode installations
    Check /Applications folder for any Xcode.app installations and run `xcodebuild -version` inside each application's Contents/Developer directory
    Affected if Any installed Xcode version is 13.2 or lower

You are affected if any Xcode installation on your system runs a version earlier than 13.3, as the vulnerability exists in the file parsing code of those versions.

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 13.3 or later
Fixed in 13.3
Interim mitigation

Update Xcode to version 13.3 or later to apply the bounds checking fix.

Recommended fix High confidence

Xcode 13.3

  1. Back up any existing Xcode projects before upgrading
  2. Download Xcode 13.3 from the Apple Developer portal (developer.apple.com) or the Mac App Store
  3. Install Xcode 13.3 by double-clicking the downloaded .xip file and following the installation prompts
  4. Launch Xcode 13.3 and verify the version by selecting Xcode > About Xcode from the menu bar
  5. Re-open any projects and rebuild to ensure compatibility
Caveat Xcode 13.3 includes Swift 5.6 and may require project adjustments for newer Swift language features or SDK changes

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

Fix this in Xcode Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22601 — 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-2022-22601 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