Root-privileged access to private Photos data
Published Jan 10, 2024 · Updated Nov 4, 2025
Information disclosure in Apple Photos Storage before macOS 14, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17 allows local users to read private data. Apple has not disclosed which Photos Storage code exposes the information or what operation makes it accessible. Exploitation requires an app with root privileges and user interaction, and the reported impact is limited to confidentiality.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in Apple Photos Storage before macOS 14, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17 allows local users to read private data. Apple has not disclosed which Photos Storage code exposes the information or what operation makes it accessible. Exploitation requires an app with root privileges and user interaction, and the reported impact is limited to confidentiality.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-42934
- Published
- Jan 10, 2024
- Updated
- Nov 4, 2025
- Vendor
- Apple
- Product
- iOS and iPadOS
- Classifications
- CWE-200, T1005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 10, 2024CVE 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 <17
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
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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