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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 10 Nov 2025.
SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2022-48503

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.7 / 12.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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
The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, Safari 15.6. Processing 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 memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit (the rendering engine used by Safari, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS) allows arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content, due to insufficient bounds checking.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security updates (iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, watchOS 8.7, tvOS 15.6, Safari 15.6) to all affected devices and systems.

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:< 15.6
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 15.6
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 15.6
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0.0, < 12.5
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 15.6
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 8.7

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, go to Safari menu > About Safari, or run `defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString` in Terminal
    Affected if Version is below 15.6 and WebKit is used to render web content
  2. Check macOS version
    Go to Apple menu > About This Mac, or run `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal
    Affected if macOS version is 12.0.0 through 12.4 (inclusive) and WebKit-based browsers are used
  3. Check iOS version on iPhone
    Go to Settings > General > About, or connect device to computer and run `idevicesysversion` via libimobiledevice
    Affected if iOS version is below 15.6 and Safari or any app using WebKit is used to browse web content
  4. Check iPadOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About, or connect device to computer and run `idevicesysversion` via libimobiledevice
    Affected if iPadOS version is below 15.6 and Safari or any app using WebKit is used to browse web content
  5. Check tvOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About, or use Xcode device explorer
    Affected if tvOS version is below 15.6 and the TV browser app is used to access web content
  6. Check watchOS version
    Open Watch app on paired iPhone, go to My Watch > General > About, or check via Xcode
    Affected if watchOS version is below 8.7 and any browser or web-based complication is used

You are affected if any Apple device runs a version below the fixed release (Safari 15.6+, iOS/iPadOS 15.6+, macOS 12.5+, tvOS 15.6+, watchOS 8.7+) and uses WebKit to process untrusted web content.

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 8.7 / 12.5 / 15.6 or later
Fixed in 8.712.515.6
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security updates (iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, watchOS 8.7, tvOS 15.6, Safari 15.6) to all affected devices and systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, Safari 15.6

  1. Identify all affected Apple devices running vulnerable versions (Safari < 15.6, iPadOS < 15.6, iOS < 15.6, macOS 12.0.0-12.4, tvOS < 15.6, watchOS < 8.7)
  2. Check the current version on each device in Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS) or System Preferences > About (macOS)
  3. For iOS/iPadOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS/iPadOS 15.6
  4. For macOS Monterey: Go to System Preferences > Software Update and install macOS Monterey 12.5
  5. For tvOS: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 15.6
  6. For watchOS: Pair with iPhone, open Watch app, go to My Watch > General > Software Update and install watchOS 8.7
  7. For Safari: Update via macOS update (Safari 15.6 is included with macOS 12.5) or via Software Update on macOS Big Sur/Catalina
  8. Verify all devices show the corrected version after updating
Caveat Minimal risk - these are incremental security updates; ensure backup of important data before updating as standard practice

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

Fix this in Safari Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-48503 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