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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 12 Jun 2023.
SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2023-32409

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.5 / 13.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. This issue is fixed in watchOS 9.5, tvOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, iOS 15.7.8 and iPadOS 15.7.8, Safari 16.5, iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5. A remote attacker may be able to break out of Web Content sandbox. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.

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 remote code execution vulnerability in Web Content sandbox allows an attacker to escape the sandbox isolation. The issue stems from insufficient bounds checking, likely a buffer overflow or out-of-bounds memory access flaw in Safari's rendering engine. This enables a remote attacker to break out of the Web Content sandbox and potentially execute arbitrary code.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches: update to iOS 16.5/iPadOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, tvOS 16.5, watchOS 9.5, Safari 16.5, or iOS 15.7.8/iPadOS 15.7.8 for older devices. Prioritize patching given confirmed active exploitation in the wild.

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:< 16.5
IpadosOperating system
Affected:>= 15.0, < 15.7.8>= 16.0, < 16.5
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:>= 15.0, < 15.7.8>= 16.0, < 16.5
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 13.0, < 13.4
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 16.5
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 9.5

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
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Safari version on macOS
    Open Safari, click Safari in the menu bar, select About Safari, and note the version number displayed (e.g., 16.4, 16.5)
    Affected if The version is earlier than 16.5 (for example, 16.4.x or earlier)
  2. Check iOS or iPadOS version
    Open Settings app, go to General, tap About, and note the version number (e.g., 16.4, 16.5)
    Affected if The version is 15.0 through 15.7.7, or 16.0 through 16.4 (i.e., less than 15.7.8 or less than 16.5)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu, select About This Mac, and note the version number (e.g., 13.3, 13.4)
    Affected if The version is 13.0 through 13.3 (i.e., earlier than 13.4)
  4. Check tvOS version
    Open Settings app on Apple TV, go to General > About, and note the version number
    Affected if The version is earlier than 16.5 (for example, 16.4 or earlier)
  5. Check watchOS version
    Open Settings app on Apple Watch, go to General > About, or check via paired iPhone in Watch app under My Watch > General > About
    Affected if The version is earlier than 9.5 (for example, 9.4 or earlier)

If any Safari, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, or watchOS device in your environment runs a version lower than the fixed releases (16.5 for Safari/tvOS, 15.7.8/16.5 for iOS/iPadOS, 13.4 for macOS, 9.5 for watchOS), the device is affected by this sandbox escape vulnerability.

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 9.5 / 13.4 / 15.7.8 or later
Fixed in 9.513.415.7.8
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches: update to iOS 16.5/iPadOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, tvOS 16.5, watchOS 9.5, Safari 16.5, or iOS 15.7.8/iPadOS 15.7.8 for older devices. Prioritize patching given confirmed active exploitation in the wild.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Safari 16.5, iOS/iPadOS 15.7.8 or 16.5+, macOS Ventura 13.4, tvOS 16.5, or watchOS 9.5 as appropriate for each device

  1. Identify all affected Apple devices in your environment (iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs)
  2. For iPhones/iPads: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 15.7.8 or iOS 16.5+ (iPadOS 15.7.8 or iPadOS 16.5+)
  3. For Macs: Open System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Ventura 13.4
  4. For Apple Watches: Open the Watch app on iPhone > General > Software Update and install watchOS 9.5
  5. For Apple TVs: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates and install tvOS 16.5
  6. For Safari browser (on older macOS): Update Safari to version 16.5 via Mac App Store or Software Update
  7. Verify all devices show the patched versions after updating
Caveat Standard Apple OS update considerations apply - verify app compatibility and back up data before updating; this is a critical security fix recommended for all affected users

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

Fix this in Safari Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,800.

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-2023-32409 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