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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 14 Jul 2023.
SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2023-32439

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.42.3 / 13.4.1 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 type confusion issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1, iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.4.1, Safari 16.5.1. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. 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 type confusion vulnerability in WebKit allows processing of maliciously crafted web content to lead to arbitrary code execution. This was a zero-day exploit actively used in targeted attacks before Apple released patches in iOS 16.5.1/15.7.7, iPadOS 16.5.1/15.7.7, macOS Ventura 13.4.1, and Safari 16.5.1.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied updates (iOS 16.5.1 or later, iPadOS 16.5.1 or later, macOS Ventura 13.4.1 or later, Safari 16.5.1 or later) to all affected devices. For organizations, use MDM to inventory and push patches to managed Apple devices.

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:< 16.5.1
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 15.7.7>= 16.0, < 16.5.1
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 15.7.7>= 16.0, < 16.5.1
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 13.0, < 13.4.1
Webkitgtk\+Web browser
Affected:< 2.42.3

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 > About Safari, or run: defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString
    Affected if Version is less than 16.5.1
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone/iPad
    Open Settings > General > About, look for the version number
    Affected if Version is less than 15.7.7, or between 16.0 and 16.5.0 (excluding 16.5.1)
  3. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Open Settings > General > About, look for the version number
    Affected if Version is less than 15.7.7, or between 16.0 and 16.5.0 (excluding 16.5.1)
  4. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac, or run: sw_vers
    Affected if Version is 13.0 through 13.4.0 (excluding 13.4.1)
  5. Check WebKitGTK version on Linux systems
    Run: dpkg -l | grep webkit or rpm -qa | grep webkit, or check the webkit2gtk library version directly
    Affected if Version is less than 2.42.3

You are affected if any of Safari, iOS/iPadOS, macOS, or WebKitGTK installed on your device falls within the affected version ranges for this CVE.

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 2.42.3 / 13.4.1 / 15.7.7 or later
Fixed in 2.42.313.4.115.7.7
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied updates (iOS 16.5.1 or later, iPadOS 16.5.1 or later, macOS Ventura 13.4.1 or later, Safari 16.5.1 or later) to all affected devices. For organizations, use MDM to inventory and push patches to managed Apple devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 16.5.1 or iOS 15.7.7 (depending on current version branch); iPadOS 16.5.1 or iPadOS 15.7.7; macOS Ventura 13.4.1; Safari 16.5.1; WebKitGTK+ 2.42.3

  1. For iOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iOS 16.5.1 (or iOS 15.7.7 if remaining on iOS 15.x)
  2. For iPadOS devices: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and upgrade to iPadOS 16.5.1 (or iPadOS 15.7.7 if remaining on iPadOS 15.x)
  3. For macOS Ventura (13.x): Open System Settings > Software Update and upgrade to macOS Ventura 13.4.1
  4. For Safari: Upgrade via macOS system update to Safari 16.5.1 (included in macOS Ventura 13.4.1)
  5. For WebKitGTK+ (Linux distributions): Update the webkit2gtk package to version 2.42.3 through your distribution's package manager
Caveat Security-only update; minimal risk of breaking changes, though some older web content may render differently

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
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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-2023-32439 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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