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CVE-2016-7619 Apple CVE debrief

CVE-2016-7619 is a local Apple libarchive vulnerability tied to symlink handling. The NVD record rates it medium severity and indicates that a low-privilege local attacker could write to arbitrary files, creating an integrity-impact issue on affected Apple systems. Apple’s advisory links cover the affected iOS, macOS, and watchOS release lines for remediation.

Vendor
Apple
Product
Unknown
CVSS
MEDIUM 5.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-20
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-20
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Apple device administrators, endpoint security teams, and users managing iPhone/iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch fleets on affected releases. Systems that permit local accounts or process untrusted archives should prioritize review and patching.

Technical summary

The issue is in libarchive’s handling of symlinks. NVD classifies the weakness as CWE-59 and assigns CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N, indicating a local attack that does not require user interaction but can have a high integrity impact. The supplied description states iOS before 10.2, macOS before 10.12.2, and watchOS before 3.1.3; the NVD CPE data in the corpus lists vulnerable ranges ending at iOS 10.1.1, macOS 10.12.1, and watchOS 2.2.2, so the Apple advisories should be used to confirm the exact fixed releases.

Defensive priority

Medium priority. The attack is local and needs some privileges, but it can still let a local user overwrite files on affected Apple systems, so timely patching is important.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Update affected Apple devices to versions newer than the fixed releases listed by Apple for iOS, macOS, and watchOS.
  • Use the Apple advisories in the record (HT207422, HT207423, and HT207487) to verify the correct remediated versions for each product line.
  • Review endpoints that accept or extract untrusted archives, since the weakness is in libarchive symlink handling.
  • Limit unnecessary local account access and monitor for unexpected file changes on affected Apple devices until remediation is complete.

Evidence notes

Primary evidence comes from the official NVD record and the Apple advisory links embedded in that record. NVD provides the CVSS vector CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N and CWE-59. The corpus also contains a scope mismatch worth noting: the supplied description lists watchOS before 3.1.3, while the NVD CPE criteria end at watchOS 2.2.2; similar version-end differences appear for iOS and macOS. Use Apple’s advisories to confirm the exact remediation boundary.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-7619 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7619

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-7619 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7619

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.