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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-41981High confidence

An attacker that has already achieved kernel code execution may be able to bypass kernel memory mitigations

Apple · iOS and iPadOS

4.4MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-46440

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.6, tvOS 17, iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7, watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. An attacker that has already achieved kernel code execution may be able to bypass kernel memory mitigations.

What

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.6, tvOS 17, iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7, watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. An attacker that has already achieved kernel code execution may be able to bypass kernel memory mitigations.

Why

The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.6, tvOS 17, iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7, watchOS 10, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma 14. An attacker that has already achieved kernel code execution may be able to bypass kernel memory mitigations.

Why

The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → vulnerable operation → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
High: elevated access is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration.
CWE not yet assigned
CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2023-2454Apple iOS und iPadOS: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Apple iOS und Apple iPadOS ausnutzen, um beliebigen Code auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand herbeizuführen, vertrauliche Informationen preiszugeben, Dateien zu manipulieren oder seine Privilegien zu erweitern.

Official advisory
BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2023-2453Apple macOS: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter oder lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Apple macOS ausnutzen, um beliebigen Code auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen, einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand herbeizuführen, seine Rechte zu erweitern oder Daten zu manipulieren.

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2023-AVI-0784Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Apple

d?id=CVE-2023-41073 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41074 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41074 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41078 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41078 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41079 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41079 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41174 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41174 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41232 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41232 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41968 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41968 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41979 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41979 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41980 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41980 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41981 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41981 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41984 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41984 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41986 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41986 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41993 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41993 Référence CVE CVE-2023-41995 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41995 Gestion détaillée du document le 27 septembre 2023 Version initiale Alertes Avis Bulletins d’actualités Mentions légales Conditions générales À propos Contact cyber.gouv.fr service-public.fr legifrance.gouv.fr info.gouv.fr france.fr info.gouv.fr/risques Premier Ministre / Secrétariat Général

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
unspecified < 17; unspecified < 16.7; unspecified < 13.6; unspecified < 14; unspecified < 10
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 26 Sept 2023 · Last source change 4 Nov 2025, 19:21 UTC · CWE not yet assigned

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-46440
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceUnavailable
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Missing structured fields: CWE classification. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-41981 · cve.blacktree.nl