CVE-2019-8789 Path traversal in iOS
Attackers can disclose user information by tricking users into opening a maliciously crafted iBooks file on Apple devices.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2019-8789?
CVE-2019-8789 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 18 Dec 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A validation issue existed in the handling of symlinks. This issue was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2, macOS Catalina 10.15.1. Parsing a maliciously crafted iBooks file may lead to disclosure of user information.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-8789?
It affects 3 products.
Products include Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Mac Os X.
How do I fix CVE-2019-8789?
No fix has been published for CVE-2019-8789 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2019-8789 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8789 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados
- CVE-2025-43300 Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write
- CVE-2025-24201 Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write
- CVE-2025-24085 Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free
- CVE-2025-31200 Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption
- CVE-2025-31201 Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2p5m-pxg9-g2wq.