CVE-2023-28202

Firewall policy bypass via mismanaged Settings state

Published Jun 23, 2023 · Updated Dec 5, 2024

A state-management flaw in System Settings across affected Apple operating systems allows local users to leave an app firewall setting unapplied. System Settings mishandles firewall-setting state when the Settings app exits, so the selected control does not take effect. Apple has not published the faulty state object or transition; exploitation requires a local low-privileged app and can leave intended firewall protection inactive.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A state-management flaw in System Settings across affected Apple operating systems allows local users to leave an app firewall setting unapplied. System Settings mishandles firewall-setting state when the Settings app exits, so the selected control does not take effect. Apple has not published the faulty state object or transition; exploitation requires a local low-privileged app and can leave intended firewall protection inactive.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-28202
Published
Jun 23, 2023
Updated
Dec 5, 2024
Vendor
Apple
Product
iOS and iPadOS
Classifications
CWE-640, T1562.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 23, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 5, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <16.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Apple · iOS and iPadOSversion=unspecified <16.5
Apple · tvOSversion=unspecified <16.5
Apple · macOSversion=unspecified <13.4
Apple · watchOSversion=unspecified <9.5

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-640Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
T1562.004Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify System Firewall

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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