CVE-2023-38606 — Apple Multiple Products Kernel Unspecified Vulnerability

This issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.8, iOS 15.7.8 and iPadOS 15.7.8, iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6, tvOS 16.6, macOS Big Sur 11.7.9, macOS Ventura 13.5, watchOS 9.6. An app may be able to modify sensitive kernel state. Ap

01What is this vulnerability?

This issue was addressed with improved state management. This issue is fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.8, iOS 15.7.8 and iPadOS 15.7.8, iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6, tvOS 16.6, macOS Big Sur 11.7.9, macOS Ventura 13.5, watchOS 9.6. An app may be able to modify sensitive kernel state. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS…

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
Apple	tvOS	unspecified
Apple	iOS and iPadOS	unspecified
Apple	macOS	unspecified
Apple	iOS and iPadOS	unspecified
Apple	macOS	unspecified
Apple	macOS	unspecified
Apple	watchOS	unspecified

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2023-07-26. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

Open in Sigma generator →

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2023-07-26T23:55:05.346Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-30T18:31:27.599Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2023-07-26
• BOD 22-01 due: 2023-08-16

09References

• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213846
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213841
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213843
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213842
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213845
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213844
• support.apple.com — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213848