IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-40400

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0 / 14.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
This issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 17, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, macOS Sonoma 14. A remote user may cause an unexpected app termination or 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 · moderate confidence

A remote code execution vulnerability in Apple's operating systems (iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, watchOS 10, macOS Sonoma 14) allows remote attackers to cause unexpected app termination or execute arbitrary code. The fix involved improved checks, likely indicating an input validation or bounds checking issue in a network-facing component.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied OS updates: iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, tvOS 17+, watchOS 10+, and macOS Sonoma 14+ to all affected 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
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 16.6
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 16.6
macOSOperating system
Affected:< 14.0
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 10.0

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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. Identify your Apple device type
    Determine whether the device is an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or Apple Watch. This is needed because version ranges differ across product lines.
    Affected if Device is an Apple product (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or Apple Watch)
  2. Check iOS or iPadOS version on iPhone/iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About on iPhone or iPad. Note the version number displayed next to 'Software Version'.
    Affected if Version is earlier than 16.6 on iPhone or iPad
  3. Check macOS version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu > About This Mac. Note the version number displayed (such as 13.x, 14.x, etc.).
    Affected if Version is earlier than 14.0 on Mac
  4. Check tvOS version on Apple TV
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on Apple TV. Note the version number.
    Affected if Version is earlier than 17.0 on Apple TV
  5. Check watchOS version on Apple Watch
    Open the Watch app on paired iPhone, go to General > About, or on Apple Watch go to Settings > General > About. Note the version number.
    Affected if Version is earlier than 10.0 on Apple Watch

The environment is affected if the installed OS version is lower than 16.6 for iOS/iPadOS, lower than 14.0 for macOS, lower than 17.0 for tvOS, or lower than 10.0 for watchOS.

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 10.0 / 14.0 / 16.6 or later
Fixed in 10.014.016.6
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied OS updates: iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, tvOS 17+, watchOS 10+, and macOS Sonoma 14+ to all affected devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS Sonoma 14 / tvOS 17 / watchOS 10

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Upgrade to iOS 17 or later / iPadOS 17 or later
  2. For Mac: Upgrade to macOS Sonoma 14 or later
  3. For Apple TV: Upgrade to tvOS 17 or later
  4. For Apple Watch: Upgrade to watchOS 10 or later
  5. After upgrading, verify the version in Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS) or System Settings > About (macOS)
Caveat Major OS upgrades may introduce UI changes, remove older app compatibility, or require updated accessories; backup data before upgrading

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

Fix this in Ipados Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40400 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-40400 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