CVE-2023-42970: Use After Free

Published Sep 18, 2023
·
Updated

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14, watchOS 10, tvOS 17, Safari 17. Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.

Other sources

Accessibility. This issue was addressed with improved redaction of sensitive information.

— Apple

Airport. A permissions issue was addressed with improved redaction of sensitive information.

— Apple

AMD. A buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

— Apple

AMD. The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

— Apple

App Store. The issue was addressed with improved handling of protocols.

— Apple

Credit

Anonymous, Dong Jun Kim@@smlijun(AbyssLab), Jong Seong Kim@@nevul37(AbyssLab), Francisco Alonso@@revskills(PK Security), (PK Security), Dohyun Lee@@l33d0hyun(PK Security), Francisco Alonso@@revskills, 이준성(Junsung Lee)(Cross Republic), an anonymous researcher, Jie Ding@@Lime(HKUS3 Lab), zhunki, 이준성(Junsung Lee), Bill Marczak(The Citizen Lab at The University of Toronto's Munk School), Maddie Stone(Google's Threat Analysis Group), Narendra Bhati (twitter.com/imnarendrabhati)(Suma Soft Pvt), Pune (India), Pan ZhenPeng@@Peterpan0927(STAR Labs SG Pte), Michael (Biscuit) Thomas, 张师傅(@京东蓝军), Sei K., Zhipeng Huo@@R3dF09(Tencent Security Xuanwu Lab), Adam M.(SecuRing), (SecuRing), Wojciech Regula(SecuRing), Mickey Jin@@patch1t, Kirin@@Pwnrin, Certik Skyfall Team, Yiğit Can YILMAZ@@yilmazcanyigit, Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e), James Hutchins, zer0k, Adam M., Noah Roskin-Frazee, Professor Jason Lau (ZeroClicks.ai Lab), Will Brattain at Trail(Bits), Kirin@@Pwnrin(NorthSea), Csaba Fitzl@@theevilbit(Offensive Security), Antonio Zekic@@antoniozekic(Dataflow Security), Linus Henze(Pinauten GmbH), Tim Michaud@@TimGMichaud(Moveworks), Mohamed GHANNAM@@_simo36, Ye Zhang@@VAR10CK(Baidu Security), w0wbox, Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e)(Offensive Security), Joshua Jewett@@JoshJewett33(Offensive Security), (Offensive Security), Adam M.(BreakPoint Security Research), (BreakPoint Security Research), Ron Masas(BreakPoint Security Research), serkan Gurbuz, Adriatik Raci(Sentry Cybersecurity), Brian McNulty(Offensive Security), Claire Houston, Wang Yu(Cyberserval), Tomi Tokics@@tomitokics(iTomsn0w), Kenneth Chew, Abhay Kailasia@@abhay_kailasia(Lakshmi Narain College Of Technology Bhopal), Joseph Ravichandran@@0xjprx(MIT CSAIL), Gergely Kalman@@gergely_kalman, weize she, Berke Kırbaş, Harsh Jaiswal, Certik Skyfall Team(Ant Security Light), pattern-f@@pattern_F_(Ant Security Light), Zweig(Kunlun Lab), Félix Poulin-Bélanger, Noah Roskin-Frazee(Offensive Security), Pr(Offensive Security), Ron Masas(Imperva), Murray Mike, Mikko Kenttälä )@@Turmio_(SensorFu), (Ant Security Light), Ferdous Saljooki@@malwarezoo(Jamf Software), Meng Zhang (鲸落)(NorthSea), Brian McNulty(Texts), (Texts), Kishan Bagaria(Texts), Michael DePlante@@izobashi(Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative), baba yaga, Serkan Erayabakan(George Mason University), David Kotval(George Mason University), Akincibor(George Mason University), Sina Ahmadi(George Mason University), Billy Tabrizi, Kirin@@Pwnrin(SecuRing), Luan Herrera@@lbherrera_, Noah Roskin-Frazee (ZeroClicks.ai Lab), James Duffy (mangoSecure), Ron Masas(BreakPoint), Thijs Alkemade@@xnyhps(Computest Sector 7), Andrew Haggard, (AbyssLab), An anonymous researcher(MacEnhance), Jeremy Legendre(MacEnhance), Felix Kratz, Koh M. Nakagawa@@tsunek0h, Chris Ross (Zoom), Yishu Wang, Cristian Dinca(Computer Science), Romania, JeongOhKyea(Theori), Halle Winkler, Politepix@@hallewinkler, ABC Research s.r.o., Wojciech Reguła@@_r3ggi, Liang Wei(PixiePoint Security), Zhice Yang (ShanghaiTech University), Mikko Kenttälä )@@Turmio_(SensorFu)

Affected Software

14 affected componentsFixes available
Apple Safari<17
17
Apple tvOS<17
17
Apple WatchOS<10
10
Apple iOS<17
17
Apple iPadOS<17
17
Apple macOS Sonoma<14
14
Apple Safari<17.0
Apple iPadOS<17.0
Apple iPhone OS<17.0
Apple macOS<14.0
Apple tvOS<17.0
Apple WatchOS<10.0
debian/webkit2gtk
2.50.6-1~deb12u22.50.6-1~deb12u12.52.6-1~deb13u12.54.0-1~deb13u32.52.6-12.54.2-2
debian/wpewebkit<=2.38.6-1
2.48.3-12.54.2-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade Safari to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 17
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade tvOS to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 17
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade Apple iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 10
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade Apple iOS and iPadOS to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 17
  5. Upgrade

    Upgrade Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 17
  6. Upgrade

    Upgrade Apple macOS to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 14
  7. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 14
  8. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 17
  9. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 10
  10. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/webkit2gtk to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 2.50.6-1~deb12u2Fixed in 2.50.6-1~deb12u1Fixed in 2.52.6-1~deb13u1Fixed in 2.54.0-1~deb13u3Fixed in 2.52.6-1Fixed in 2.54.2-2
  11. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/wpewebkit to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 2.48.3-1Fixed in 2.54.2-1
  12. Upgrade

    Upgrade OpenSSH to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 9.3p2
  13. Upgrade

    Upgrade iOS/iPadOS/macOS/watchOS/tvOS/Safari/WebKit to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14, watchOS 10, tvOS 17, Safari 17

Event History

Sep 18, 2023
Data Sourced
via Apple·12:00 AM
DescriptionWeaknessAffected Software
Apr 11, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·02:53 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·02:53 PM
DescriptionWeakness
Data Sourced
via OSV·03:15 PM
DescriptionSeverity
May 15, 2025
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·01:03 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

Peer vulnerabilities

Found alongside the following vulnerabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-42970?

CVE-2023-42970 has been assessed with a critical severity level due to its potential impact on sensitive information redaction.

2

How do I fix CVE-2023-42970?

To fix CVE-2023-42970, users should update their affected Apple devices to the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, or tvOS as recommended by Apple.

3

What systems are affected by CVE-2023-42970?

CVE-2023-42970 affects several Apple systems including watchOS versions below 10 and iOS and iPadOS versions below 17.

4

What are the potential impacts of CVE-2023-42970?

The potential impacts of CVE-2023-42970 include unauthorized access to sensitive information due to a permissions issue on affected Apple devices.

5

Is there any known exploitation of CVE-2023-42970?

As of now, there are no reports of known exploitation for CVE-2023-42970 in the wild, but users are advised to update their software to mitigate risks.

Company

Resources

Contact

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