CVE-2022-42856

Exp

A type confusion issue was addressed with improved state handling. This issue is fixed in Safari 16.2, tvOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2, iOS 16.1.2. Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.1..

Published: 2022-12-15 Last update: 2025-10-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-42856 is rated Active Exploitation (74.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.19%). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-12-14) affecting Apple / iOS. a weakness (CWE-843) 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-2022-42856

Name: Apple iOS Type Confusion Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-12-14

Action due: 2023-01-04

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-42856

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 2026-04-21 0.26% 0.19% -0.07%
2 2026-04-15 0.19% 0.26% +0.07%
3 2026-01-27 — 0.19% —

Full EPSS history (27 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-42856

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-42856

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-42856

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-42856 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (webkit2gtk, wpewebkit), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-42856
gentoo high CVE-2022-42856: 1 GLSA(s) (202305-32), 1 atom(s) (net-libs/webkit-gtk); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-42856
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-42856
suse high CVE-2022-42856 severity important: SUSE including 124 source package names (WebKit2GTK-4.0-lang-2.38.3-150400.4.25.1, WebKit2GTK-4.1-lang-2.38.3-150400.4.25.1, …), 425 product×package rows across 50 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 6, … (50 product lines)): Fixed 425. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-42856/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-42856 medium priority: Ubuntu including 5 source packages (qtwebkit-opensource-src, qtwebkit-source, webkit2gtk, webkitgtk, wpewebkit), 41 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 21, DNE 10, released 7, needs-triage 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-42856

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-42856

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apple safari < 16.2 cpe:2.3:a:apple:safari:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple ipados < 15.7.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os < 15.7.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os >= 16.0, < 16.1.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple macos < 13.1 cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple tvos < 16.2 cpe:2.3:o:apple:tvos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-42856

URL Tags
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/Dec/21 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/Dec/22 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/Dec/23 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/Dec/26 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/Dec/28 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/12/26/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-32 Third Party Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213516 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213531 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213532 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213535 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213537 Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-42856 US Government Resource
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