XcodeApplication · Apple

CVE-2023-32396

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0 / 14.0 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
This issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in Xcode 15, tvOS 17, watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. An app may be able to gain elevated 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 vulnerability in Apple's platforms allows an application to gain elevated privileges beyond its intended sandbox or permission boundaries. This issue was addressed with improved checks in the affected operating systems and Xcode 15.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches by updating all affected devices to iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, watchOS 10+, tvOS 17+, macOS Sonoma 14+, or later versions.

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
XcodeApplication
Affected:< 15.0
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 14.0
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 10.0

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. Check macOS version
    Open System Settings > General > About, or run `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal
    Affected if Version is lower than 14.0 ( Sonoma )
  2. Check iOS version
    Open Settings > General > About on the device
    Affected if Version is lower than 17.0
  3. Check iPadOS version
    Open Settings > General > About on the device
    Affected if Version is lower than 17.0
  4. Check watchOS version
    Open Settings > General > About on the paired iPhone, or on the Apple Watch itself
    Affected if Version is lower than 10.0
  5. Check tvOS version
    Open Settings > General > About on the Apple TV
    Affected if Version is lower than 17.0
  6. Check Xcode version
    Open Xcode > About Xcode, or run `xcodebuild -version` in Terminal
    Affected if Version is lower than 15.0

A user is affected if any Apple operating system or Xcode installed on their device runs a version lower than the fixed release (iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, watchOS 10+, tvOS 17+, macOS 14+, Xcode 15+).

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 10.0 / 14.0 / 15.0 or later
Fixed in 10.014.015.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches by updating all affected devices to iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, watchOS 10+, tvOS 17+, macOS Sonoma 14+, or later versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Xcode 15, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14, tvOS 17, watchOS 10

  1. Identify which Apple platform(s) are affected in your environment (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, or Xcode)
  2. For iOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 17 or later
  3. For iPadOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iPadOS 17 or later
  4. For macOS devices: Go to System Settings > Software Update and install macOS Sonoma (14) or later
  5. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Apple TV Software Update and install tvOS 17 or later
  6. For Apple Watch: Open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > Software Update and install watchOS 10 or later
  7. For Xcode: Download and install Xcode 15 or later from the Mac App Store or developer.apple.com
  8. After updating, verify the version by checking Settings > General > About (on iOS/iPadOS) or System Settings > About (on macOS)
Caveat Major OS updates may include UI changes, removed features, or compatibility issues with older apps; review Apple's release notes before updating

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

Fix this in Xcode Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,900
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-32396 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