IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-23532

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.3 / 16.4 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Zero-click

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
This issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.3, iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, iOS 15.7.6 and iPadOS 15.7.6. An app may be able to break out of its sandbox.

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 sandbox escape vulnerability in Apple operating systems (macOS, iOS, iPadOS) allowing a malicious or compromised application to break out of its sandbox and gain elevated privileges. The fix involves improved checks in the affected OS components.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to the patched versions: macOS Ventura 13.3, iOS/iPadOS 16.4, or iOS/iPadOS 15.7.6. This is a system-level vulnerability remedied by OS updates rather than application code changes.

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:< 16.4
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 16.4
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 13.3

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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. Determine macOS version
    On Mac, open Apple menu > About This Mac. The version number appears below the macOS name (for example, 13.2, 13.3, 14.0).
    Affected if The displayed version is less than 13.3 (for example, 13.2.x or earlier).
  2. Determine iOS or iPadOS version
    On iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > About. The version number appears next to 'Software Version' (for example, 16.3, 16.4, 17.0).
    Affected if The displayed version is less than 16.4 (for example, 16.3.x or earlier) and not 15.7.6.
  3. Identify if running a still-supported older iOS version
    Note that iOS 15.7.6 is also a patched version. If your device runs iOS 15.x, confirm the exact subversion in Settings > General > About.
    Affected if The device runs iOS 15.x versions earlier than 15.7.6, or any version below 16.4 that is not 15.7.6.
  4. Confirm overall vulnerability status
    Compare your identified OS version against the affected ranges: macOS < 13.3, iOS/iPadOS < 16.4 (excluding 15.7.6).
    Affected if Your installed macOS is below 13.3, or your installed iOS/iPadOS is below 16.4 and not specifically version 15.7.6.

You are affected if your device runs macOS versions earlier than 13.3, or iOS/iPadOS versions earlier than 16.4 (except the specific patched version 15.7.6).

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 13.3 / 16.4 or later
Fixed in 13.316.4
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to the patched versions: macOS Ventura 13.3, iOS/iPadOS 16.4, or iOS/iPadOS 15.7.6. This is a system-level vulnerability remedied by OS updates rather than application code changes.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, iOS 15.7.6, iPadOS 15.7.6, macOS Ventura 13.3

  1. Identify the current device OS version (iOS, iPadOS, or macOS)
  2. For iPhone/iPad: Navigate to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 16.4 or iPadOS 16.4 (or iOS 15.7.6/iPadOS 15.7.6 for older devices)
  3. For macOS: Open System Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.3
  4. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the OS version in Settings/About
Caveat Standard OS update considerations apply - review Apple release notes for any known issues before updating production devices

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23532 — 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-2023-23532 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