CVE-2021-1879

Exp

This issue was addressed by improved management of object lifetimes. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.5.2, iOS 14.4.2 and iPadOS 14.4.2, watchOS 7.3.3. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to universal cross site scripting. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited..

Published: 2021-04-02 Last update: 2025-10-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-1879 is rated Active Exploitation (74.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.81%). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2021-11-03) affecting Apple / iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. cross-site scripting (CWE-79) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2021-1879

Name: Apple iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS WebKit Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2021-11-03

Action due: 2021-11-17

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-1879

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-10 1.50% 0.81% -0.69%
2 2026-01-12 1.94% 1.50% -0.44%
3 2025-12-24 — 1.94% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-1879

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 2.7 [email protected]
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 2.7 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-1879

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-1879

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apple ipados < 14.4.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os < 12.5.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os >= 13.0, < 14.4.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple watchos < 7.3.3 cpe:2.3:o:apple:watchos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-1879

cvelogic Threat Intelligence