Unauthorized device access via failed Depth app locking
Published Sep 26, 2023 · Updated Nov 4, 2025
Authentication failure in Apple watchOS before 10 allows physically proximate attackers to leave an Apple Watch Ultra unlocked during Depth use. Apple identifies faulty state management in the Passcode component but does not disclose which Depth app transition prevents the lock state from being enforced. Exploitation requires physical access to an affected Ultra model during Depth use and exposes data and functions only while the device remains unlocked.
Summary
What happened
Authentication failure in Apple watchOS before 10 allows physically proximate attackers to leave an Apple Watch Ultra unlocked during Depth use. Apple identifies faulty state management in the Passcode component but does not disclose which Depth app transition prevents the lock state from being enforced. Exploitation requires physical access to an affected Ultra model during Depth use and exposes data and functions only while the device remains unlocked.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-40418
- Published
- Sep 26, 2023
- Updated
- Nov 4, 2025
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- watchOS
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 26, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 4, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=unspecified <10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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
No sourced classifications are available.
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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