CVE-2023-23520
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 · uneditedA race condition was addressed with additional validation. This issue is fixed in watchOS 9.3, tvOS 16.3, macOS Ventura 13.2, iOS 16.3 and iPadOS 16.3. A user may be able to read arbitrary files as root.
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 confidenceA race condition in Apple operating systems allows a local unprivileged user to read arbitrary files on the system with root privileges due to insufficient validation during file system operations.
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< 16.3< 16.3< 13.2CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check iOS version on iPhoneGo to Settings > General > About > Version, or use Apple Configurator or device management tools to query the iOS versionAffected if Version is lower than 16.3
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Check iPadOS version on iPadGo to Settings > General > About > Version, or use Apple Configurator or device management tools to query the iPadOS versionAffected if Version is lower than 16.3
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Check macOS version on MacRun `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal, or check System Settings > About This MacAffected if Version is lower than 13.2
The system is affected if it runs iOS, iPadOS, or macOS with a version number below 16.3, 16.3, or 13.2 respectively.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped13.216.3
Apply the available security updates for the affected Apple operating systems (iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, macOS Ventura 13.2, tvOS 16.3, watchOS 9.3) to address the race condition and prevent privilege escalation to root.
iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, macOS Ventura 13.2
- Back up your device data before upgrading
- For iOS/iPadOS: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 16.3/iPadOS 16.3
- For macOS: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Ventura 13.2
- After upgrading, verify the version in Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS) or System Settings > General > About (macOS)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23520 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-23520 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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