CVE-2023-40520: Apple iOS and iPadOS · An app may be able to access edited photos saved to a temporary directory
Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC
Rated Medium by the CNA (apple) · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 22% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Exploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 26 Sep 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.
What to do
AI-suggested
The vulnerability is fixed in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10. Users and administrators should update to these versions to remediate the issue.
Description
CVE-2023-40520 is a vulnerability in Apple iOS and iPadOS where an app may be able to access edited photos saved to a temporary directory. This issue was addressed by Apple with improved checks and fixed in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10.
References
- support.apple.com/en-us/HT213938 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/HT213936 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/en-us/HT213937 (opens in a new tab)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Oct/10 (opens in a new tab)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Oct/8 (opens in a new tab)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Oct/9 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/kb/HT213938 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/kb/HT213937 (opens in a new tab)
- support.apple.com/kb/HT213936 (opens in a new tab)