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macOS CVE-2022-48618

HIGH
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367)
2024-01-09 product-security@apple.com
7.0
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A04:2021 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture TOCTOU prevention
Impact

CVSS score of 7.0 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, high complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. CISA has confirmed active exploitation in the wild. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.17%.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

Successful exploitation could compromise the high-severity affected system.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: Active threat signals + CRITICAL/HIGH severity.
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 28, 2026

The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0). Actively exploited in the wild (cisa kev) and no vendor patch available.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 28, 2026 - 19:34 CVSS 7.0

A TOCTOU race condition in Apple's PAC checking allows bypassing Pointer Authentication. Exploited against older iOS versions in targeted attacks.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-367. The issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.1, watchOS 9.2, iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, tvOS 16.2. An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass Pointer Authentication. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1. Affected products include: Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Macos, Apple Tvos, Apple Watchos.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Added to CISA KEV
Oct 23, 2025 - 18:47 cisa
CISA KEV
CVE Published
Jan 09, 2024 - 18:15 nvd
HIGH 7.0

DescriptionCVE.org

The issue was addressed with improved checks. This issue is fixed in macOS Ventura 13.1, watchOS 9.2, iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, tvOS 16.2. An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass Pointer Authentication. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7.1.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using The face moderate risk from CVE-2022-48618 rated CVSS 7.0. Exploitation could compromise the security of affected deployments. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild (KEV-listed) and requires immediate remediation. Immediate patching is required per CISA KEV mandate.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 62% exploitable
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV Yes
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
Active threat signals + CRITICAL/HIGH severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation· derived
Active
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Very High

Priority Score

85
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: +50
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +35
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:o:apple:ipados:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:apple:tvos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:apple:watchos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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