CVE-2023-41974

Exp

A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory management. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, iOS 15.8.7 and iPadOS 15.8.7. An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.

Published: 2024-01-10 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-41974 is rated Critical Active Threat (81.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.41%). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2026-03-05) affecting Apple / iOS and iPadOS. a weakness (CWE-416) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +1.22% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: 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-2023-41974

Name: Apple iOS and iPadOS Use-After-Free Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2026-03-05

Action due: 2026-03-26

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-41974

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-41974

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 2026-06-15 0.19% 1.41% +1.22%
2 2026-03-21 0.70% 0.19% -0.52%
3 2026-03-12 0.70%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-41974

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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.
1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-41974

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-41974

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apple ipados < 15.8.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple ipados >= 16.0, < 17.0 cpe:2.3:o:apple:ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os < 15.8.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os >= 16.0, < 17.0 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-41974

cvelogic Threat Intelligence