CVE-2016-7658 Apple CVE debrief

Who should care

Apple device owners and administrators running affected iOS, macOS, or watchOS versions should care, especially environments where users regularly open email attachments, downloads, or other untrusted files. Security teams should treat it as important because the CVSS vector indicates network attack potential with required user interaction and high impact.

Technical summary

The CVE description says the flaw is in Apple’s Audio component and can be triggered by a crafted file, leading to memory corruption. NVD classifies it as CWE-119 and rates it 8.8 HIGH (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), which aligns with remote code execution potential and denial of service through application crash. The supplied CVE prose states affected versions are iOS before 10.2, macOS before 10.12.2, and watchOS before 3.1.3; the NVD CPE metadata further enumerates vulnerable ranges for iPhone OS, macOS, and watchOS.

Defensive priority

High

Recommended defensive actions

• Apply the Apple security updates referenced by support.apple.com/HT207422, HT207423, and HT207487 as soon as possible.
• Upgrade affected devices to iOS 10.2 or later, macOS 10.12.2 or later, and watchOS 3.1.3 or later.
• Reduce exposure to untrusted files and media content until patching is complete, especially in user-facing workflows.
• Prioritize systems that handle external attachments, downloads, or shared content for remediation and verification.
• Inventory Apple devices to confirm no affected versions remain in service.

Evidence notes

The CVE was published on 2017-02-20 and marked modified in NVD metadata on 2026-05-13. The supplied NVD record identifies the weakness as CWE-119 and gives CVSS 3.0 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. References in the record include Apple vendor advisories (HT207422, HT207423, HT207487) plus third-party notices. Note that the prose description and the NVD CPE ranges are not perfectly aligned: the prose says before iOS 10.2/macOS 10.12.2/watchOS 3.1.3, while the CPE entries end at iPhone OS 10.1.1, macOS 10.12.1, and watchOS 2.2.2.

Official resources