Medium

Sensitive location information disclosure via log redaction issue in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

IdentifiersCVE-2023-40437CWE-532

CVE-2023-40437 is an Apple privacy vulnerability affecting iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Apple states that the issue was caused by insufficient redaction of private data in log entries, which could allow an application to read sensitive location information. The issue was addressed by improving private data redaction for log entries. Apple lists the fix in iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, and macOS Ventura 13.5.

For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an application to access sensitive location information that should not have been exposed through system log data. The primary impact is privacy compromise and unauthorized disclosure of location-related data to a local app.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting installation and execution of untrusted or unnecessary applications, especially those that may be able to access or inspect system logs. Apply least-privilege controls and mobile device/application management policies where available. However, the authoritative mitigation is to install Apple's security updates.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade affected systems to the fixed releases identified by Apple: iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, and macOS Ventura 13.5 or later. Apple indicates the issue was remediated by improving private data redaction in log entries.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

AppleIpadosoperating_system

AppleIphone Osoperating_system

AppleMacosoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

2 SOURCESView more in app

apple supportNews

Jan 25, 2026

About the security content of iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 - Apple Support

A privacy issue where an app could read sensitive location information due to insufficient redaction of private data in log entries.

apple supportNews

Jan 19, 2026

Informazioni sui contenuti di sicurezza di iOS 16.6 e iPadOS 16.6 - Supporto Apple (IT)

Vulnerabilità di privacy/logging su iOS/iPadOS che può consentire a un'app di leggere informazioni sensibili sulla posizione.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity