dbcve.org
SafariWeb browser · Apple

CVE-2023-41074

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0 / 14.0 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 17, Safari 17, watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. 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 · moderate confidence

This is a WebKit vulnerability in Safari and web rendering components across Apple devices. Processing maliciously crafted web content can trigger memory corruption leading to arbitrary code execution. The fix involved improved checks, likely for input validation or memory access bounds.

MitigationUpdate all affected devices to iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, macOS Sonoma 14+, watchOS 10+, tvOS 17+, or Safari 17+ to remediate this vulnerability.

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:< 17.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0= 12.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 37
IpadosOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 17.0
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
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, go to Safari > About Safari, or run: defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString
    Affected if Version is less than 17.0
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone
    Go to Settings > General > About, or run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if Version is less than 17.0 and WebKit-based content is accessed via Safari or any app embedding web content
  3. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About, or run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if Version is less than 17.0 and WebKit-based content is accessed via Safari or any app embedding web content
  4. Check macOS version
    Go to About This Mac, or run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if Version is less than 14.0 and WebKit-based browsers or apps are used (Safari, Mail, Preview, third-party apps embedding WebKit)
  5. Check tvOS or watchOS version
    On Apple TV: go to Settings > General > About. On Apple Watch: go to Settings > General > About, or check via paired iPhone in Watch app under General > About
    Affected if tvOS version is less than 17.0 or watchOS version is less than 10.0, and the web-based interfaces or apps using WebKit are accessed
  6. Check WebKitGTK/WebKit2GTK version on Debian or Fedora Linux
    On Debian: dpkg -l | grep -i webkit. On Fedora: rpm -qa | grep -i webkit. Or run: webkitgtk-4.1 --version 2>/dev/null or webkit2gtk-4.0 --version 2>/dev/null
    Affected if WebKit package is installed and its version is below the patched version for the respective distribution (for Debian 11/12 and Fedora 37)

A user is affected if their device runs any of the listed products with a version below the fixed release (iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/watchOS < 17.0, macOS < 14.0, Safari < 17.0) AND they use web browsing or any feature that renders web content via WebKit.

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 / 17.0 or later
Fixed in 10.014.017.0
Interim mitigation

Update all affected devices to iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, macOS Sonoma 14+, watchOS 10+, tvOS 17+, or Safari 17+ to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14, watchOS 10, tvOS 17, Safari 17 (or later)

  1. For Apple devices: Update to iOS 17 or later via Settings > General > Software Update
  2. For iPadOS: Update to iPadOS 17 or later via Settings > General > Software Update
  3. For macOS: Update to macOS Sonoma 14 or later via System Settings > General > Software Update
  4. For watchOS: Update to watchOS 10 or later via the Watch app on iPhone
  5. For tvOS: Update to tvOS 17 or later via Settings > General > Apple TV Software Update
  6. For Safari: Update via macOS update (Safari 17 is included with macOS Sonoma 14)
  7. For Debian Linux: Apply security updates via 'apt update && apt upgrade' or check for webkit2gtk security updates
  8. For Fedora: Apply security updates via 'dnf update' or check for webkitgtk4 security updates
Caveat Major OS version upgrades may require significant testing; ensure backup and compatibility checks before upgrading production systems

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

Fix this in Safari Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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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-2023-41074 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