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CVE-2016-7628 Apple CVE debrief

CVE-2016-7628 is a macOS vulnerability in Apple’s Assets component that affects macOS before 10.12.2. According to the NVD record and Apple’s advisory reference, a local user could bypass intended permission restrictions and change a downloaded mobile asset through unspecified vectors. The issue is rated medium severity with an integrity impact, and it is primarily relevant to systems where an untrusted local account or process may have access to the affected host.

Vendor
Apple
Product
CVE-2016-7628
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

macOS administrators, endpoint security teams, and users who allow multiple local accounts or local application execution on affected Macs should prioritize this fix. It matters most in environments where local privilege boundaries are important, such as shared workstations, developer systems, and managed fleets.

Technical summary

NVD classifies the issue as affecting Apple macOS versions up to and including 10.12.1, with the fix applying to macOS 10.12.2 and later. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N) indicates a local attack requiring low privileges and no user interaction, with high integrity impact and no confidentiality or availability impact recorded. The published description states that the Assets component allowed local users to bypass intended permission restrictions and modify a downloaded mobile asset, but the precise vectors are not specified in the supplied sources.

Defensive priority

Medium. This is a local integrity issue rather than a remote code execution flaw, but it can still matter on systems where local users, shared access, or post-compromise persistence are concerns. Patch priority is elevated for unmanaged or multi-user Macs still running macOS 10.12.1 or earlier.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Upgrade affected Macs to macOS 10.12.2 or later.
  • Confirm that endpoints are not running macOS versions at or below 10.12.1.
  • Review local account exposure on shared Macs and restrict unnecessary local access.
  • Monitor Apple security advisories and fleet compliance reports for the Assets-related fix.
  • If remediation is delayed, limit who can log in locally to affected systems and enforce least privilege.

Evidence notes

The assessment is based only on the supplied NVD record, its listed Apple advisory reference, and the vulnerability description. The sources identify macOS before 10.12.2 as affected, describe a local permission-bypass condition in the Assets component, and provide the CVSS 3.0 vector showing low-privilege local access with high integrity impact. The specific exploitation vector is not detailed in the supplied corpus.

Official resources

Publicly disclosed on 2017-02-20 in the CVE/NVD record; Apple’s advisory reference is included in the official NVD references. Use the CVE published date for timing context, not later modification timestamps.