CVE-2023-42977
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 · uneditedA path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. An app may be able to break out of its sandbox.
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 · high confidenceThis is a path handling vulnerability in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma 14 where improper input validation allows a malicious application to escape its sandbox restrictions and potentially access unauthorized resources or perform privileged operations.
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< 17.0< 17.0< 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check iOS/iPadOS versionGo to Settings > General > About on the device and note the version number (e.g., 17.1, 17.0, 16.7)Affected if Version is 17.0 or 17.1 (vulnerable); version is 17.2 or later (not vulnerable); version is 16.x or earlier (not vulnerable to this specific flaw)
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Check macOS versionClick Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number (e.g., 14.0, 13.6, 14.1)Affected if Version is 14.0 (vulnerable); version is 14.1 or later (not vulnerable); version is 13.x or earlier (not vulnerable to this specific flaw)
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Confirm path handling exposureThis vulnerability requires a malicious application to be installed on the device. Check installed apps from unknown sources or sideloaded apps.Affected if A malicious application with sandbox-escape capability is present on the device
The device is affected only if it runs iOS 17.0-17.1, iPadOS 17.0-17.1, or macOS 14.0 and has a malicious application capable of exploiting the path handling flaw to escape sandbox restrictions.
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 · scoped14.017.0
Apply vendor-supplied updates: iOS 17.2 and later, iPadOS 17.2 and later, macOS Sonoma 14.1 and later. In enterprise environments, deploy via MDM patch management.
iOS 17.0+, iPadOS 17.0+, macOS Sonoma 14.0+
- For iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Software Update, then download and install iOS 17.0 or later
- For iPad: Go to Settings > General > Software Update, then download and install iPadOS 17.0 or later
- For Mac: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update, then download and install macOS Sonoma 14.0 or later
- After updating, verify the new OS version by checking Settings > General > About (iOS/iPadOS) or System Settings > General > About (macOS)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42977 — 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-2023-42977 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