Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 8 Sep 2022.
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-32894

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0 / 11.7 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
An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 15.6.1 and iPadOS 15.6.1, macOS Monterey 12.5.1. An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.

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 kernel-level out-of-bounds write vulnerability in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Monterey that allows a malicious application to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The flaw was addressed with improved bounds checking in the patched versions.

MitigationApply the available security updates: iOS 15.6.1, iPadOS 15.6.1, or macOS Monterey 12.5.1 or later. Given active exploitation in the wild, prioritize patching affected devices immediately.

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
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 15.6.1
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 15.6.1
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 11.0, < 11.7>= 12.0, < 12.5.1
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 9.0

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 iOS version on iPhone
    Open Settings > General > About and note the version number listed next to 'Version'
    Affected if The version is below 15.6.1 (for example, 15.6, 15.5, 15.4, etc.)
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Open Settings > General > About and note the version number listed next to 'Version'
    Affected if The version is below 15.6.1
  3. Check macOS version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal
    Affected if The version starts with 11.0 through 11.7, or 12.0 through 12.5.1 (for example, 11.6, 12.3)
  4. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, and note the watchOS version
    Affected if The version is below 9.0

You are affected if any of your Apple devices run iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS versions within the ranges listed above and have not yet received the 15.6.1, 12.5.1, or 9.0 security updates.

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 9.0 / 11.7 / 12.5.1 or later
Fixed in 9.011.712.5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the available security updates: iOS 15.6.1, iPadOS 15.6.1, or macOS Monterey 12.5.1 or later. Given active exploitation in the wild, prioritize patching affected devices immediately.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 15.6.1, iPadOS 15.6.1, macOS Monterey 12.5.1, watchOS 9.0

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 15.6.1 or iPadOS 15.6.1
  2. For Mac: Open System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Monterey 12.5.1
  3. For Apple Watch: Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone, go to General > Software Update, and install watchOS 9.0
  4. After updating, restart the device to ensure the security update is fully applied
Caveat Point releases (15.6.1, 12.5.1) are minimal updates with low risk; ensure backup of important data before updating

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

Fix this in Ipados Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,260
Get it fixed fast

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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-32894 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