dbcve.org
IpadosOperating system · Apple

CVE-2023-42961

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.7 / 13.6 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
A path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7, macOS Sonoma 14, macOS Ventura 13.6, macOS Monterey 12.7. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.

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 path handling vulnerability in Apple's operating systems (iOS, iPadOS, macOS) where insufficient validation allowed a sandboxed process to escape its sandbox restrictions. The vulnerability was addressed through improved path validation logic in the affected OS components.

MitigationApply the available OS updates: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, iOS 16.7, iPadOS 16.7, macOS Sonoma 14, macOS Ventura 13.6, or macOS Monterey 12.7 depending on the device. For organizations, this requires a patch management deployment to ensure all managed devices receive the corrected OS versions.

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:< 16.7
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:< 16.7
macOSOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0, < 12.7>= 13.0, < 13.6

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 'Version' field, or run 'nsurlsessiond --version' or check via MDM/Apple Configurator
    Affected if Version is less than 16.7 (e.g., 16.6.x, 16.5.x, etc.)
  2. Check iPadOS version on iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About and look at the 'Version' field, or run 'nsurlsessiond --version' or check via MDM/Apple Configurator
    Affected if Version is less than 16.7 (e.g., 16.6.x, 16.5.x, etc.)
  3. Check macOS version
    Click Apple menu > About This Mac, or run 'sw_vers' in Terminal, or check via MDM/Jamf
    Affected if Version is 12.0 through 12.6.x, or 13.0 through 13.5.x (these fall within the vulnerable ranges >=12.0,<12.7 and >=13.0,<13.6)

A device is affected if it runs iOS/iPadOS below 16.7, or macOS 12.0-12.6.x or 13.0-13.5.x; devices on 16.7+, 12.7+, 13.6+, or 14+ are not affected.

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 12.7 / 13.6 / 16.7 or later
Fixed in 12.713.616.7
Interim mitigation

Apply the available OS updates: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, iOS 16.7, iPadOS 16.7, macOS Sonoma 14, macOS Ventura 13.6, or macOS Monterey 12.7 depending on the device. For organizations, this requires a patch management deployment to ensure all managed devices receive the corrected OS versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 16.7/iPadOS 16.7 or later (iOS 17/iPadOS 17 recommended); macOS 12.7, 13.6, or 14.x depending on current macOS version

  1. Back up your iPhone, iPad, or Mac before updating
  2. Check current OS version in Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS) or System Settings > General > About (macOS)
  3. For iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 16.7/iPadOS 16.7 or update to iOS 17/iPadOS 17
  4. For Mac: Open System Settings > General > Software Update and install the available security update (macOS 12.7, 13.6, or 14.x)
  5. Restart device after update completes
Caveat Standard OS update; backup recommended but no major breaking changes expected for typical use cases

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

Fix this in Ipados 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42961 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-42961 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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