CVE-2016-7640 Apple CVE debrief

Who should care

Security teams and administrators managing affected Apple devices and software, especially endpoints running the impacted iOS, Safari, iCloud, or iTunes versions. End users on older Apple releases should also prioritize updates because the attack path involves visiting a malicious website.

Technical summary

The supplied corpus identifies the flaw as a WebKit memory corruption issue (CWE-119). The CVSS vector is CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating a network-reachable issue with no privileges required, but with user interaction needed. The CVE description states that crafted web content can lead to arbitrary code execution or application crash/denial of service. The corpus also includes a version-range discrepancy: the prose description says iOS before 10.2, Safari before 10.0.2, iCloud before 6.1, and iTunes before 12.5.4, while the NVD CPE criteria in the source item map to end versions 10.1.1, 10.0.1, 6.0.1, and 12.5.3 respectively.

Defensive priority

High. This is an internet-reachable memory corruption issue in a widely used browser engine with potential code execution impact, but exploitation requires a user to load attacker-controlled web content.

Recommended defensive actions

• Update affected iOS devices to 10.2 or later.
• Update Safari to 10.0.2 or later on affected systems.
• Update iCloud to 6.1 or later where applicable.
• Update iTunes to 12.5.4 or later where applicable.
• Prioritize patching user endpoints that browse the web regularly or handle untrusted links.
• Use the supplied NVD and Apple vendor references to confirm exact affected builds in your environment.
• If you rely on CPE-based inventory, validate the corpus mismatch between the prose version ranges and the NVD CPE end versions before remediating at scale.

Evidence notes

All statements are derived from the supplied CVE/NVD corpus. The official source item lists Apple vendor advisories and third-party references, but no advisory body text was provided in the corpus. The source corpus contains a version-range mismatch between the CVE description and the NVD CPE criteria; both are preserved here without reconciliation beyond noting the discrepancy.

Official resources