CriticalCVE-2022-48503

    Apple Multiple Products Unspecified Vulnerability (CVE-2022-48503)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: Red Hat, Debian, pwn.watch, CVE.org

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    What is affected, what to do

    The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, Safari 15.6.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update Apple macOS to version 12.5, Apple tvOS to version 15.6, Apple Safari to version 15.6. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Apple macOS lt *..12.5
    • Apple tvOS lt *..15.6
    • Apple Safari lt *..15.6
    • Apple watchOS lt *..8.7
    • Apple iOS and iPadOS lt *..15.6
    Fixed in
    • Apple macOS 12.5
    • Apple tvOS 15.6
    • Apple Safari 15.6
    • Apple watchOS 8.7
    • Apple iOS and iPadOS 15.6

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    8.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    8.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Red Hat, Debian, pwn.watch, CVE.org

    3.2 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 88.3

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    209.51 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploited
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    8.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    8.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    3.2 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    88.3
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 20 October 2025
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-129

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This JavaScriptCore flaw is network-reachable without authentication and needs only a visit to crafted web content. It yields full code execution in the browser context, which makes it a classic entry point for drive-by and watering-hole chains, typically paired with a sandbox-escape bug. CISA lists no known ransomware use, and exploitation likelihood is elevated but not extreme. The fix has been available since 2022, so the late KEV addition mostly matters for organisations carrying outdated or unmanaged Apple devices. If you have full MDM coverage and current releases, treat this as a compliance verification exercise. If you have shadow IT, BYOD or EoL hardware in NIS2-relevant environments, treat it as high-priority legacy debt and remediate quickly.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory via MDM (Jamf, Intune, Kandji, Workspace ONE): Identify every Apple device running below iOS/iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, Safari 15.6, tvOS 15.6 or watchOS 8.7. Treat these as the floor, not the target. Move devices to the currently supported release, since older branches no longer receive security fixes.
      • Enforce updates: Push update deadlines through MDM (DDM enforcement or software-update deadlines) with a short grace period. Monterey hosts need at least 12.5. Older macOS versions need the standalone Safari 15.6 update.
      • Retire what cannot be patched: CISA explicitly flags possible EoL/EoS products. Pull hardware that cannot reach the fixed versions out of production, or at minimum cut it off from corporate networks and data.
      • Tighten conditional access: Set minimum OS versions in Entra ID Conditional Access or your IdP's device-compliance policy. Non-compliant devices then lose access to M365, VPN and SaaS until they are updated.
      • Prioritise high-exposure users: Update devices belonging to executives, admins, developers and frequent travellers first. These are the usual targets of watering-hole and link-based delivery.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Configuration/endpoint: Where updates are delayed, disable JavaScript in Safari via configuration profile, or enable Lockdown Mode (iOS 16+) for high-risk users. Lockdown Mode restricts JIT and complex web features in JavaScriptCore. Every browser on iOS, as well as in-app WKWebView components, runs on WebKit/JavaScriptCore, so switching browsers does not mitigate the issue there.
      • Network/web proxy: Restrict non-compliant Apple devices to category allowlists on the secure web gateway. Block uncategorised, newly registered and low-reputation domains to reduce drive-by exposure.
      • Segmentation: Move legacy Apple TV, Apple Watch companion and meeting-room devices into an isolated IoT/guest VLAN with no east-west access to server or management networks.
      • Email/messaging: Enforce URL rewriting and detonation (e.g. Defender Safe Links, Proofpoint URL Defense). Exploitation requires a user to open crafted web content.
      • IAM/least privilege: Remove local admin rights on macOS and shorten session-token lifetimes for critical SaaS on non-compliant devices. This limits the blast radius after renderer-level code execution.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • EDR process ancestry (macOS): Any child process of a WebKit renderer is highly suspicious. Example KQL: DeviceProcessEvents | where InitiatingProcessFileName has "com.apple.WebKit.WebContent" | where FileName in~ ("sh","bash","zsh","osascript","curl","python3","perl")
      • Crash patterns: Look for clusters of com.apple.WebKit.WebContent or Safari crashes in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports and ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports. Pay particular attention to EXC_BAD_ACCESS with JavaScriptCore frames, especially shortly after visits to external URLs. Collect these reports centrally via EDR or unified-log forwarding.
      • Proxy/web-gateway logs: Flag user agents below the fixed releases, e.g. CPU iPhone OS 15_[0-5] or Version/15\.[0-5] Safari. Use this to find vulnerable clients and their visits to rare domains. The macOS UA is partially frozen, so cross-check against MDM data.
      • Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): Watch for Apple endpoints contacting first-seen domains, followed shortly by unusual beaconing or large POST uploads (http.log/ssl.log, JA3/JA4 deviating from the standard Safari fingerprint).
      • Mobile forensics: For suspected compromise of high-risk users' iOS devices, run a sysdiagnose or iTunes backup through the Mobile Verification Toolkit (MVT) against current IOC sets.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks. This issue is fixed in tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, Safari 15.6. Processing web content may lead to arbitrary code execution.

    Source: redhat_csaf, Debian Security Advisories, pwn.watch, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    AppleiOS and iPadOS
    • < 15.6
    • 15.6
    ApplemacOS
    • < 12.5
    • 12.5
    AppleSafari
    • < 15.6
    • 15.6
    AppletvOS
    • < 15.6
    • 15.6
    ApplewatchOS
    • < 8.7
    • 8.7
    applesafari
    • < 15.6
    • 15.6

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianwebkit2gtkbullseye
    Linuxdebianwpewebkitbullseye
    macOSapplemacos—
    Mobileappleiphone_os—
    Otherappleipados—
    Otherappletvos—
    Otherapplewatchos—

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-129Improper Validation of Array Index

      Variant

      The product uses untrusted input when calculating or using an array index, but the product does not validate or incorrectly validates the index to ensure the index references a valid position within the array.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-129

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

    • support.apple.comApple advisory: Apple Multiple ProductsRelease notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • support.apple.comApple advisory: Apple Multiple ProductsRelease notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • support.apple.comApple advisory: Apple Multiple ProductsRelease notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • support.apple.comApple advisory: Apple Multiple ProductsRelease notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • support.apple.comApple advisory: Apple Multiple ProductsRelease notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-48503government-resource, US government resource
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: Apple Multiple Products: Multiple Products Unspecified Vulnerabilitypwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2022-48503pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
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