CVE-2023-42962VulnerabilityPublished 28 Mar 2024Updated 4 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-42962: Apple iOS and iPadOS · A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service

Affects Apple iOS and iPadOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 16.7.3 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 56% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 16.7.3

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

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

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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Mar 2024
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.

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 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 iOS and iPadOS to 16.7.3.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apple iOS and iPadOS	Affected <16.7.3	Fixed in 16.7.3

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize updating all iOS and iPadOS devices to versions 17.2, 16.7.3, or later as soon as possible to remediate this vulnerability. Mobile device management (MDM) solutions should be used to enforce patch compliance and monitor device OS versions. Network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems can be configured to limit exposure of vulnerable devices to untrusted networks. Organizations should also educate users about the importance of applying updates promptly and monitor for unusual device behavior indicative of denial-of-service attempts. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, restricting network access to critical Apple devices or segmenting them can reduce attack surface. Incident response plans should include procedures for handling potential DoS incidents on mobile devices to minimize operational impact.

Description

This issue was addressed with improved checks This issue is fixed in iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2, iOS 16.7.3 and iPadOS 16.7.3. A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial-of-service.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-42962 is the potential disruption of mobile device availability. This can affect employees’ ability to communicate, access corporate resources, and perform mobile-dependent operations, leading to productivity losses. Sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government, which rely on secure and reliable mobile communications, could experience operational interruptions. Although the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow unauthorized access, denial-of-service conditions can degrade trust in mobile device reliability and may be exploited as part of broader attack campaigns to cause disruption. Organizations with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies or those issuing Apple devices to employees are particularly vulnerable if devices are not promptly updated. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits following public disclosure.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Nov 2025, 19:50 UTC

Technical details

References

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