CVE-2023-38592
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 · uneditedA logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6, watchOS 9.6, tvOS 16.6, macOS Ventura 13.5. Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceA logic flaw in WebKit allows malicious web content to bypass security restrictions and achieve arbitrary code execution. This is a remote code execution vulnerability triggered by processing specially crafted web content.
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>= 16.0, < 16.6>= 16.0, < 16.6>= 13.0, < 13.5< 16.6< 9.6CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check iOS or iPadOS versionGo to Settings > General > About > Version on the deviceAffected if Version is 16.0 through 16.5 (any 16.x version below 16.6)
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Check macOS versionGo to System Settings > About or click Apple menu > About This MacAffected if Version is 13.0 through 13.4 (Ventura below 13.5)
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Check tvOS versionGo to Settings > General > About > Version on Apple TVAffected if Version is below 16.6
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Check watchOS versionOpen the Watch app on iPhone, go to General > About on the paired watch, or check Settings > General > About on the watchAffected if Version is below 9.6
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Identify WebKit-based applications in useNote that Safari, Chrome, and many third-party browsers on Apple devices use WebKit as their rendering engine; any browser using WebKit on an affected OS version is vulnerableAffected if Any WebKit-based browser or app processes untrusted web content on a device running an affected OS version
A device is affected if it runs iOS/iPadOS 16.0-16.5, macOS 13.0-13.4, tvOS below 16.6, or watchOS below 9.6 and uses WebKit-based applications to browse web content.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped9.613.516.6
Apply vendor patches by updating affected devices to iOS 16.6+, iPadOS 16.6+, watchOS 9.6+, tvOS 16.6+, or macOS Ventura 13.5+.
iOS 16.6 / iPadOS 16.6 / macOS Ventura 13.5 / watchOS 9.6 / tvOS 16.6
- For iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 16.6 or iPadOS 16.6
- For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Ventura 13.5
- For Apple Watch: Go to Settings > General > Software Update on the watch or via the iPhone Watch app and install watchOS 9.6
- For Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install tvOS 16.6
- After updating, verify the version in Settings > General > About
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38592 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-38592 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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