Apple watchOS up to 9.2 WebKit memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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7.4$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Apple watchOS up to 9.2 and classified as critical. Affected is an unknown function of the component WebKit. This manipulation causes memory corruption. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-23518. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Apple watchOS up to 9.2 (Smartwatch Operating System). It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown part of the component WebKit. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.3, macOS Ventura 13.2, watchOS 9.3, macOS Big Sur 11.7.3, Safari 16.3, tvOS 16.3, iOS 16.3 and iPadOS 16.3. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.

The weakness was shared 01/23/2023 by YeongHyeon Choi as HT213599 as confirmed advisory (Website). The advisory is shared at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-23518. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The advisory points out:

Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 212174 (Apple Safari 16.3 Multiple Vulnerabilities (120946)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 9.3 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability. The advisory contains the following remark:

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (212174), EUVD (EUVD-2023-27618) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2023-1185). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Fedora Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • Gentoo Linux
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • Red Hat OpenShift
  • RESF Rocky Linux

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.4

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 8.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 212174
Nessus Name: Apple Safari 16.3 Multiple Vulnerabilities (120946)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍

Upgrade: watchOS 9.3

Timelineinfo

01/12/2023 🔍
01/23/2023 +11 days 🔍
01/23/2023 +0 days 🔍
01/24/2023 +1 days 🔍
11/30/2025 +1041 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: apple.com

Advisory: HT213599
Researcher: YeongHyeon Choi
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-23518 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-23518
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-219229
EUVD: 🔍
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2023-1185 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 01/24/2023 11:09
Updated: 11/30/2025 03:42
Changes: 01/24/2023 11:09 (19), 01/24/2023 11:12 (27), 02/19/2023 07:23 (1), 12/09/2024 18:13 (17), 03/12/2025 02:23 (12), 04/28/2025 04:06 (3), 10/11/2025 22:15 (1), 11/30/2025 03:42 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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