VulnerabilityPublished 26 Sep 2023Updated 4 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-41174: Apple iOS and iPadOS · An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

Severity

High

Rated High by the CNA (apple) · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 27% 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 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

The vulnerability is fixed in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10. Users and administrators should update devices to these versions or later to remediate the issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor.

Description

CVE-2023-41174 is a vulnerability in Apple iOS and iPadOS where an app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. This issue was addressed by Apple through improved memory handling and fixed in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10. No public exploit or confirmed exploitation in the wild has been reported.

Impact

Successful exploitation could allow an app to gain kernel-level code execution privileges, which could lead to full control over the affected device. However, there is no evidence of active exploitation in the wild at this time.

Summary

This vulnerability allows an app to potentially execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges on affected Apple operating systems. The underlying issue was related to memory handling flaws. Apple fixed the vulnerability in the major releases iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10 by improving memory management to prevent such privilege escalation.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 25 Oct 2026, 21:44 UTC

Technical details

References

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