Threats / Apple / CVE-2016-4656
CVE-2016-4656
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-09-19
Apple iOS vulnerability
A memory corruption vulnerability in the iOS kernel allows attackers to execute privileged code or cause denial-of-service through a crafted application.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
This kernel-level memory corruption vulnerability poses significant risk due to its exploitability in the wild and potential for privilege escalation. The EPSS score of 0.65 reflects active exploitation likelihood. Affected iOS users face threats from both code execution and service disruption.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-05-244EPSS 0.23447 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3Exploit Weaponized · public exploit · Metasploit module11
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
6 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-05-24).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.23447 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Apple, iOS. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-264 Permissions/Privileges/Access Control — weakness family: Authorization / access control.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 2098 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious application that triggers memory corruption in the iOS kernel.
Business
User devices become vectors for unauthorized code execution at the highest privilege level, compromising data confidentiality and system integrity.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the vulnerability to execute code with kernel privileges, bypassing security controls.
Business
Apple's security model is undermined, eroding customer trust and creating liability for data breaches affecting millions of iOS users.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I distribute the malicious app through legitimate channels or social engineering to maximize reach.
Business
Widespread compromise of iOS devices increases support costs, regulatory exposure, and reputational damage to Apple's ecosystem.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05
Coverage & confidence
— what we know, and what we don’tEstablished (cited)
Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden
Disclosure & credit2
Catalogued by appleCNA
Credited with finding itNo finder is named in the public CVE record or the scanned vendor advisory — attribution scoped to the sources checked.
Found an error? Propose a correction.
A correction is a cited counter-claim — it must cite a source,
gets reviewed by a second human, and is never auto-applied. See the
correction convention and our identity
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