# CVE-2024-23218: Weak cryptography in iOS and iPadOS

> An attacker can decrypt legacy RSA ciphertexts without the private key due to a timing side-channel in cryptographic functions.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 2 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-f8vm-23j7-pf2r

## What is CVE-2024-23218?

CVE-2024-23218 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 23 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A timing side-channel issue was addressed with improvements to constant-time computation in cryptographic functions. This issue is fixed in iOS 16.7.6 and iPadOS 16.7.6, iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3, macOS Monterey 12.7.4, macOS Sonoma 14.3, macOS Ventura 13.6.5, tvOS 17.3, watchOS 10.3. An attacker may be able to decrypt legacy RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 ciphertexts without having the private key.

Weakness: CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-23218?

It affects 5 products.


Products: Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Macos, Apple Tvos, Apple Watchos.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-23218?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-23218 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-23218 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-23218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados

- [CVE-2025-43300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-43300/): Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24201/): Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24085/): Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31200](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31200/): Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31201/): Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-23218 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-23218 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 23 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-23218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Ipados. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23218/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23218/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-23218
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-23218
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-23218

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23218/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.