SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2022-42867

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.2 / 13.1 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
A use after free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in Safari 16.2, tvOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, watchOS 9.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to 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

A use-after-free vulnerability in WebKit allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via maliciously crafted web content. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where freed memory is accessed after being deallocated, potentially allowing an attacker to control memory layout and execute arbitrary code.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches by updating to Safari 16.2, tvOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS/iPadOS 16.2, or watchOS 9.2 or later. Until patched, avoid untrusted websites.

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
SafariWeb browser
Affected:< 16.2
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 16.2
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 16.2
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 13.1
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 16.2
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 9.2

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 Safari version on macOS
    Open Safari, click Safari menu > About Safari, or run 'defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString' in Terminal
    Affected if Version is lower than 16.2
  2. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal
    Affected if Version is lower than 13.1 and Safari is used as the browser
  3. Check iOS or iPadOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About on the device
    Affected if Version is lower than 16.2 and Safari is used as the browser
  4. Check tvOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on Apple TV
    Affected if Version is lower than 16.2 and the default browser is used to visit untrusted websites
  5. Check watchOS version
    Open the Watch app on iPhone, go to My Watch > General > About
    Affected if Version is lower than 9.2 and Safari is accessed via the paired iPhone

If any Apple product listed above is at a version lower than the specified threshold (Safari < 16.2, macOS < 13.1, iOS/iPadOS < 16.2, tvOS < 16.2, watchOS < 9.2) and the user visits untrusted web content, the environment is affected.

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 9.2 / 13.1 / 16.2 or later
Fixed in 9.213.116.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches by updating to Safari 16.2, tvOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS/iPadOS 16.2, or watchOS 9.2 or later. Until patched, avoid untrusted websites.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, watchOS 9.2, tvOS 16.2, Safari 16.2

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 16.2 or iPadOS 16.2
  2. For Mac: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS Ventura 13.1
  3. For Apple Watch: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install watchOS 9.2
  4. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install tvOS 16.2
  5. For Safari (standalone): Update through macOS Ventura 13.1 or download Safari 16.2 for older macOS versions if available
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade risk - backup device before updating; some legacy features may be deprecated in older macOS versions

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

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-42867 — 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-2022-42867 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