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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2023-41968: Apple iOS and iPadOS · An app may be able to read arbitrary files

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 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 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 26 Sep 2023

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

AI-suggested

Apply the official updates from Apple that include the fix for this vulnerability: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Ventura 13.6, macOS Monterey 12.7, macOS Sonoma 14, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10. These updates improve symlink validation and prevent exploitation of this issue.

Description

CVE-2023-41968 is a vulnerability in Apple iOS and iPadOS where an app may be able to read arbitrary files due to insufficient validation of symbolic links. This issue has been addressed by Apple with improved symlink validation and fixed in multiple Apple operating system versions including iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

References

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