What is CVE-2023-38606?
This issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.8, iOS 15.7.8 and iPadOS 15.7.8, iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6, tvOS 16.6, macOS Big Sur 11.7.9, macOS Ventura 13.5, watchOS 9.6. An app may be able to modify sensitive kernel state. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1.
The record classifies CVE-2023-38606 under weakness class NVD-CWE-noinfo. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw requires local access to the host, needs no prior authentication, needs a user to take an action first, and has high impact on integrity. 5 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 1193 days ago.
Severity and exploitation probability
- CVSS v3.1 base score
- 5.5 — MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N - EPSS (FIRST)
- 2.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 86.5% of all scored CVEs
- CISA KEV
- Listed since 2023-07-26, federal remediation deadline 2023-08-16
- Threadlinqs priority
- 9/10 — CISA KEV-listed, which Threadlinqs floors at 9
- Published
- 2023-07-27, last modified 2025-10-30
Is CVE-2023-38606 being exploited?
CISA added CVE-2023-38606 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-07-26, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2023-08-16 under BOD 22-01. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2023-38606 is publicly available. 1 public proof-of-concept repository is tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 55 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.
- trickest/cve (trickest)
Affected products and versions
- Apple: Ipados, Iphone Os, Macos, Tvos, Watchos
How to fix CVE-2023-38606
The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2023-38606. Patch reference: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213846. Vendor advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213841. Because CVE-2023-38606 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2023-08-16. Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.
Threat activity tracking CVE-2023-38606
6 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2023-38606, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.
- DeadTag campaign: Coruna and DarkSword iPhone exploit kits delivered via expired ad/analytics tags, compromised websites and malicious ads — HIGH · 2026-10-27
- Coruna and DarkSword iOS Spyware Delivered via Instagram Ads, Hijacked Expired Ad/Analytics Domains and Compromised PrestaShop Stores (DeadTag) — HIGH · 2026-10-27
- Coruna and DarkSword iOS Exploit Kits Compromise iPhones via Single Malicious Website (UNC6353, UNC6691, UNC6748, PARS Defense) — HIGH · 2026-10-14
- Coruna Exploit Framework — Updated Operation Triangulation iOS Exploit Kit (CVE-2023-32434, CVE-2023-38606) — CRITICAL · 2026-03-26
- Coruna iOS Exploit Kit — 23 Exploits Across 5 Chains Targeting iOS 13-17.2.1 (CVE-2021-30952, CVE-2023-41974, CVE-2023-43000 + 20 More) — CRITICAL · 2026-03-06
- Coruna iOS Exploit Kit — Government-Grade 23-Exploit Arsenal Proliferates from Surveillance Vendor to Russian Espionage and Chinese Cybercriminals Targeting 42K+ Devices — CRITICAL · 2026-03-04
Sources
Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on . This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Other references
- support.apple.com
- support.apple.com (HT213841)
- support.apple.com (HT213843)
- support.apple.com (HT213842)
- support.apple.com (HT213845)
Showing 5 of 7 recorded references.