CVE-2016-7661 Apple CVE debrief

Who should care

Endpoint and platform teams managing Apple fleets, especially environments with local user accounts, shared Macs, kiosk systems, or devices that may still run pre-10.2 iOS or pre-10.12.2 macOS. Security teams should also care because the issue is local, requires low privileges, and has high integrity/confidentiality/availability impact in the CVSS vector.

Technical summary

NVD rates the issue CVSS 3.0 7.8 High with AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H and maps it to CWE-264. The vulnerability is described as affecting the Power Management component and involving Mach port name references, but the exact vulnerable code path is not specified in the supplied corpus. The record’s narrative says iOS before 10.2 and macOS before 10.12.2 are affected; NVD CPE criteria further enumerate iPhone OS through 10.1.1 and macOS through 10.12.1.

Defensive priority

High for any unpatched Apple device exposed to untrusted local users or shared accounts. Prioritize patching or upgrading those devices first; if a device cannot be updated, reduce local access and consider retirement or isolation.

Recommended defensive actions

• Confirm Apple devices are updated to iOS 10.2 or later and macOS 10.12.2 or later.
• Inventory any legacy or end-of-life Apple systems that may still match the affected version ranges.
• Limit local account access where possible, especially on shared or kiosk devices.
• Review Apple vendor advisories linked from the NVD record for any platform-specific remediation guidance.
• Treat public third-party exploit references as evidence of broad awareness, but rely on vendor fixes rather than workarounds.
• If a device cannot be patched, isolate it and reduce the number of users or services that can obtain local access.

Evidence notes

All substantive claims are drawn from the supplied NVD CVE record and its listed references. The record provides the affected platforms, component name, privilege-escalation description, CVSS vector, and CWE classification. Apple vendor advisories are cited in the NVD references, and the record also lists third-party references including SecurityFocus, SecurityTracker, and exploit-db URLs; no exploit details are reproduced here.

Official resources