Root privilege escalation via insufficient path validation
Published Jul 27, 2023 · Updated Feb 13, 2025
Local privilege escalation in Apple libxpc on affected iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS releases allows local users to gain root. libxpc insufficiently validates a path during an operation Apple has not publicly identified, allowing an app to cross a root-privilege boundary. Exploitation requires execution of a malicious app, and the published consequence is root access on the device.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in Apple libxpc on affected iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS releases allows local users to gain root. libxpc insufficiently validates a path during an operation Apple has not publicly identified, allowing an app to cross a root-privilege boundary. Exploitation requires execution of a malicious app, and the published consequence is root access on the device.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-38565
- Published
- Jul 27, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2025
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- iOS and iPadOS
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 27, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 2025Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <16.6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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