VulnerabilityPublished 30 Nov 2023Updated 21 Oct 2025

CVE-2023-42916: Apple Safari · Processing web content may disclose sensitive information

Affects Apple SafariSource CVE Database V5

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 25 Dec 2023 · 17% EPSS : upgrade to 16.7.1 now.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

KEV deadline: 25 Dec 2023 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
EPSS: 17.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 97% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 16.7.1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Nov 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: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 4 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

CVE ID reserved
by Apple Inc.
14 Sep 202319:05 UTC, 77 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
30 Nov 202322:18 UTC, t = 0
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
4 Dec 2023, 4 days after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
25 Dec 2023, 25 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (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

Upgrade Apple Safari to 16.7.1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple Safari	Affected <16.7.1	Fixed in 16.7.1

Description

An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2, macOS Sonoma 14.1.2, Safari 17.1.2. Processing web content may disclose sensitive information. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 16.7.1.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact is the potential leakage of sensitive information through Safari on Apple devices running vulnerable OS versions. This could include exposure of personal data, session tokens, or other confidential information held in memory during web browsing. Such data leakage can facilitate further attacks like account takeover or espionage. Organizations relying heavily on Apple devices, especially in sectors handling sensitive or regulated data (finance, healthcare, government), face increased risk. The vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, so direct disruption is unlikely. However, the confidentiality breach could lead to compliance violations under GDPR if personal data is exposed. The requirement for user interaction means phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used to exploit this vulnerability, increasing risk in environments with less user security awareness.

Mitigation

European organizations should prioritize updating all Apple devices to iOS 17.1.2, iPadOS 17.1.2, macOS Sonoma 14.1.2, and Safari 17.1.2 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Where immediate patching is not feasible, organizations should implement network-level protections such as web filtering to block access to known malicious sites and employ DNS filtering services to reduce exposure to malicious web content. User education campaigns should emphasize the risks of clicking unknown or suspicious links, especially on Apple devices. Security teams should monitor for phishing attempts that could exploit this vulnerability. Additionally, deploying endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting anomalous browser behavior may help identify exploitation attempts. Organizations should audit their device inventories to identify unpatched Apple devices and enforce patch management policies. Finally, consider restricting Safari usage or enforcing alternative browsers with different rendering engines in high-risk environments until patches are applied.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

Timeline

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 21 Oct 2025, 20:15 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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