CVE-2023-40393
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 · uneditedAn authentication issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. Photos in the Hidden Photos Album may be viewed without authentication.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma 14 allowed the Hidden Photos Album to be accessed without requiring authentication (Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode), due to improper state management in the authentication flow.
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< 14.0CVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check macOS versionOpen System Settings > About, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal, or click Apple menu > About This MacAffected if Running macOS Sonoma version 14.0 (pre-14.1) or earlier; versions 14.1 and later are fixed
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Check iOS version (iPhone)Open Settings > General > About, or connect to Finder/iTunes to view versionAffected if Running iOS version 17.0 or earlier; versions 17.1 and later are fixed
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Check iPadOS version (iPad)Open Settings > General > About, or connect to Finder/iTunes to view versionAffected if Running iPadOS version 17.0 or earlier; versions 17.1 and later are fixed
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Confirm the Hidden Photos Album existsOpen the Photos app, scroll to the Utilities section in the sidebar or scroll down on the Albums tab to locate the Hidden albumAffected if The vulnerability only applies if the Hidden Photos Album feature is present and accessible; users who have never used or enabled Hidden photos would not have this album
You are affected if your device runs macOS Sonoma 14.0 or earlier, iOS 17.0 or earlier, or iPadOS 17.0 or earlier, and you have a Hidden Photos Album in the Photos app.
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 · scoped14.0
Update to iOS 17.1 or later, iPadOS 17.1 or later, or macOS Sonoma 14.1 or later to apply the authentication fix.
macOS Sonoma 14.0
- Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
- Click on General in the sidebar
- Click on Software Update
- If an update is available, click Update Now to download and install macOS Sonoma 14.0
- Alternatively, download macOS Sonoma from the Mac App Store and run the installer manually
- Restart the device when prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40393 — 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-2023-40393 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