IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2022-32947

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.1 / 13.0 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
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura 13, watchOS 9.1. An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel 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

A local application can exploit improper memory handling to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, achieving privilege escalation. This is a kernel-level memory corruption vulnerability fixed in Apple's 2022 security updates.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches (iOS 16.1+, iPadOS 16+, macOS Ventura 13+, watchOS 9.1+) to remediate this kernel-level privilege escalation 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
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 16.0
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 16.1
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 13.0
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 9.1

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 the Apple device type
    Determine whether the device is an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch by checking the physical device or system information
    Affected if Device is an Apple iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone
    On iPhone, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number
    Affected if iOS version is below 16.1 (for example, 16.0.x or earlier)
  3. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    On iPad, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number
    Affected if iPadOS version is below 16.0 (for example, 15.x.x)
  4. Check macOS version on Mac
    On Mac, go to System Settings > About or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal and note the version number
    Affected if macOS version is below 13.0 (any version before Ventura)
  5. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    On Apple Watch, go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number, or check via the Watch app on paired iPhone
    Affected if watchOS version is below 9.1

A device is affected if it is an Apple mobile device or computer running an OS version lower than the minimum patched release: iOS < 16.1, iPadOS < 16.0, macOS < 13.0, or watchOS < 9.1

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 9.1 / 13.0 / 16.0 or later
Fixed in 9.113.016.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches (iOS 16.1+, iPadOS 16+, macOS Ventura 13+, watchOS 9.1+) to remediate this kernel-level privilege escalation vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura 13, or watchOS 9.1 depending on device

  1. For iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 16.1
  2. For iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iPadOS 16
  3. For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Ventura 13
  4. For Apple Watch: Open the Watch app on iPhone, go to General > Software Update and upgrade to watchOS 9.1
  5. After updating, verify the update was successful by checking the OS version in Settings/General/About
Caveat Apple OS updates may cause compatibility issues with older applications; review app compatibility before upgrading

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-32947 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-32947 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