CVE-2023-41061 — Apple Ipados Vulnerability

What is CVE-2023-41061?

A validation issue was addressed with improved logic. This issue is fixed in watchOS 9.6.2, iOS 16.6.1 and iPadOS 16.6.1. A maliciously crafted attachment may result in arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.

The record classifies CVE-2023-41061 under weakness classes NVD-CWE-noinfo, CWE-20. 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 confidentiality, integrity, availability. 3 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 1151 days ago.

Severity and exploitation probability

CVSS v3.1 base score: 7.8 — HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (FIRST): 4.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 91.0% of all scored CVEs
CISA KEV: Listed since 2023-09-11, federal remediation deadline 2023-10-02
Threadlinqs priority: 9/10 — CISA KEV-listed, which Threadlinqs floors at 9
Published: 2023-09-07, last modified 2025-10-21

Is CVE-2023-41061 being exploited?

CISA added CVE-2023-41061 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-09-11, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2023-10-02 under BOD 22-01. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2023-41061 is publicly available. 1 public proof-of-concept repository is tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 46 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

trickest/cve (trickest)

Affected products and versions

Apple: Ipados, Iphone Os, Watchos

How to fix CVE-2023-41061

The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2023-41061. Patch reference: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213905. Vendor advisory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213905. Because CVE-2023-41061 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2023-10-02. 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-2023-41061

3 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2023-41061, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

Pegasus Mercenary Spyware Used for State Surveillance of Azerbaijani Journalists, Activists, and Human Rights Defenders (NSO Group) — HIGH · 2026-06-10
NSO Group Pegasus Spyware — WhatsApp Spearphishing Campaign Alleged in Meta Contempt Complaint (June 2026) — HIGH · 2026-06-09
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

Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-10-10.

Other references

Showing 5 of 6 recorded references.