Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-42839 is an Apple privacy issue where an app may be able to access sensitive user data. Apple says it was fixed through improved state management in iOS, iPadOS, macOS Sonoma, watchOS, and tvOS updates. The main business concern is confidentiality exposure on unpatched Apple devices.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority confidentiality issue. It does not have cited active exploitation, but the impact is sensitive data access by an app, making timely Apple update compliance appropriate for managed fleets.
Technical view
The record describes a local, low-complexity issue with no privileges or user interaction required and high confidentiality impact. Affected products are Apple iOS/iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS with unspecified vulnerable versions, fixed in iOS/iPadOS 17.1, macOS Sonoma 14.1, watchOS 10.1, and tvOS 17.1.
Likely exposure
Organizations are likely exposed where managed or personal Apple devices remain below the fixed releases. The source bundle does not identify exact vulnerable build ranges beyond Apple’s fixed versions, so exposure validation should focus on operating system inventory and update compliance.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV status is false. CVSS indicates local attack conditions and confidentiality-only impact. No public exploit details are provided in the supplied sources, so exploit maturity cannot be confirmed from this bundle.
Researcher notes
Apple’s disclosure is sparse: root cause is summarized as state management, with CWE-922 and no detailed affected version ranges. The safest validation path is version-based. Avoid assuming impact beyond sensitive user data access because integrity and availability impacts are not supported by the CVSS vector.
Mitigation direction
- Update iOS and iPadOS devices to 17.1 or later.
- Update macOS Sonoma systems to 14.1 or later.
- Update watchOS devices to 10.1 or later.
- Update tvOS devices to 17.1 or later.
- Use MDM policy to enforce minimum fixed OS versions.
- For unsupported devices, check Apple guidance and plan replacement.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Apple devices and record current OS versions.
- Compare device versions against Apple’s fixed release levels.
- Review MDM compliance reports for devices below fixed versions.
- Prioritize remediation for devices handling sensitive business or user data.
- Track exceptions where devices cannot receive the fixed release.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-922: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-42839 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N2.53.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.2MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213987CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213984CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213988CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213982CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213988CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213984CVE reference
- https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213982CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information
Insecure Storage of Sensitive Information represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.