Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 14 Jul 2023.
SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2023-32435

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.3 / 15.7.7 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
A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.3, Safari 16.4, iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4, iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7. Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in WebKit (Safari's browser engine) allows arbitrary code execution when processing malicious web content. Addressed with improved state management. Actively exploited in the wild against iOS versions before iOS 15.7.

MitigationApply vendor patches: iOS 15.7.7 or later, iOS 16.4 or later, macOS Ventura 13.3 or later, Safari 16.4 or later. Avoid browsing untrusted websites until patched.

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:< 16.4
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 15.7.7>= 16.0, < 16.4
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 15.7.7>= 16.0, < 16.4
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 13.0, < 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
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, click Safari menu > About Safari, or go to System Settings > Safari > About Safari. Note the version number shown.
    Affected if Version is earlier than 16.4 (for example, 16.3.x or earlier)
  2. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac. Note the version number (for example, 13.2, 13.1, 12.x, etc.).
    Affected if macOS version is 13.0, 13.1, or 13.2 (any version from 13.0 up to but not including 13.3)
  3. Check iOS version on iPhone
    Open Settings > General > About. Note the iOS version number shown.
    Affected if iOS version is earlier than 15.7.7, or is 16.0 through 16.3.x (versions from 16.0 up to but not including 16.4)
  4. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Open Settings > General > About. Note the iPadOS version number shown.
    Affected if iPadOS version is earlier than 15.7.7, or is 16.0 through 16.3.x (versions from 16.0 up to but not including 16.4)

You are affected if Safari is earlier than 16.4 on macOS 13.0-13.2, or if iOS/iPadOS is earlier than 15.7.7 or between 16.0 and 16.3, and you browse the web with Safari.

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 / 15.7.7 / 16.4 or later
Fixed in 13.315.7.716.4
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches: iOS 15.7.7 or later, iOS 16.4 or later, macOS Ventura 13.3 or later, Safari 16.4 or later. Avoid browsing untrusted websites until patched.

Recommended fix High confidence

macOS Ventura 13.3 / Safari 16.4 / iOS 16.4 / iPadOS 16.4 / iOS 15.7.7 / iPadOS 15.7.7

  1. For macOS users: Upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.3 or later via System Settings > General > Software Update
  2. For iPhone users: Upgrade to iOS 16.4 or later, or iOS 15.7.7 if staying on iOS 15, via Settings > General > Software Update
  3. For iPad users: Upgrade to iPadOS 16.4 or later, or iPadOS 15.7.7 if staying on iOS 15, via Settings > General > Software Update
  4. For Safari standalone users: Upgrade to Safari 16.4 or later (included in macOS 13.3 update)
Caveat Standard Apple minor version update risks - verify critical apps are compatible before upgrading

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
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2023-32435 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