CVE-2023-42961 Path traversal in iOS and iPadOS
A path handling flaw allows sandboxed processes to bypass restrictions, potentially leading to privilege escalation on Apple devices.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2023-42961?
CVE-2023-42961 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 11 Apr 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, iOS 16.7 and iPadOS 16.7, macOS Sonoma 14, macOS Ventura 13.6, macOS Monterey 12.7. A sandboxed process may be able to circumvent sandbox restrictions.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-42961?
It affects 3 products.
Products include Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Macos.
How do I fix CVE-2023-42961?
No fix has been published for CVE-2023-42961 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-2023-42961 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42961 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-cg4r-9g44-qvw4.