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Ipad OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-42953

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.1 / 17.1 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 permissions issue was addressed with additional restrictions. This issue is fixed in tvOS 17.1, watchOS 10.1, macOS Sonoma 14.1, iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1. An app may be able to access sensitive user data.

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 permissions vulnerability in Apple mobile and desktop operating systems (iOS 17.1, iPadOS 17.1, macOS Sonoma 14.1, watchOS 10.1, tvOS 17.1) where an application could improperly access sensitive user data due to insufficient permission restrictions. Apple addressed this with additional access restrictions in the patched versions.

MitigationUpdate all affected Apple devices to iOS 17.1/iPadOS 17.1, macOS Sonoma 14.1, watchOS 10.1, tvOS 17.1 or later to apply the permission restrictions fix.

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
Ipad OsOperating system
Affected:< 17.1
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 17.1
macOSOperating system
Affected:= 14.0
TvosOperating system
Affected:< 17.1
WatchosOperating system
Affected:< 10.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check iOS version on iPhone
    Go to Settings > General > About and look at the 'Software Version' field, or connect to computer and check via iTunes/Finder
    Affected if Version is less than 17.1 (e.g., 17.0.x or earlier)
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About and look at the 'Software Version' field
    Affected if Version is less than 17.1 (e.g., 17.0.x or earlier)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers -ProductVersion' in Terminal
    Affected if Version is exactly 14.0 (versions 14.1 and later are patched)
  4. Check watchOS version
    On iPhone, open Watch app > My Watch > General > About, or on Apple Watch go to Settings > General > About
    Affected if Version is less than 10.1 (e.g., 10.0.x or earlier)
  5. Check tvOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on Apple TV
    Affected if Version is less than 17.1 (e.g., 17.0.x or earlier)

The environment is affected if any Apple device runs an OS version that falls within the vulnerable ranges: iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/watchOS below the fixed version, or macOS exactly 14.0.

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 10.1 / 17.1 or later
Fixed in 10.117.1
Interim mitigation

Update all affected Apple devices to iOS 17.1/iPadOS 17.1, macOS Sonoma 14.1, watchOS 10.1, tvOS 17.1 or later to apply the permission restrictions fix.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1 for iPhone/iPad; macOS Sonoma 14.1 for Mac; tvOS 17.1 for Apple TV; watchOS 10.1 for Apple Watch

  1. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS/iPadOS 17.1
  2. For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update and install macOS Sonoma 14.1
  3. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install tvOS 17.1
  4. For Apple Watch: On iPhone, open Watch app > General > Software Update and install watchOS 10.1
  5. After updating, verify the update was successful by checking Settings > General > About on iOS/iPadOS, or System Settings > General > About on macOS

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

Fix this in Ipad Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-42953 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