Threats / Apple / CVE-2023-41061
CVE-2023-41061
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Apple iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS vulnerability
Apple iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS contain a validation issue in Wallet that allows maliciously crafted attachments to achieve code execution. The vulnerability was exploited in the wild and chained with CVE-2023-41064.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A validation bypass in Wallet's attachment handling enables remote code execution on affected Apple devices. Active exploitation in the wild demonstrates practical threat; chaining with a second vulnerability suggests coordinated attack chains targeting iOS ecosystems.
CISA KEV Yes · 2023-09-114EPSS 0.03125 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
14 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 2023-09-11).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.03125 — 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, iPadOS, and watchOS. 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.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · 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 4 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.
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
Craft a malicious attachment designed to bypass Wallet validation checks.
Business
User device becomes compromised with arbitrary code execution capability.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
Chain this vulnerability with CVE-2023-41064 to escalate privileges or expand attack surface.
Business
Attacker gains persistent or elevated access across iOS, iPadOS, or watchOS ecosystems.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
Distribute malicious attachments via email, messaging, or web to reach target users.
Business
Mass compromise of user devices and potential data exfiltration or lateral movement.
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