Apple kernel sensitive state modification / PPL bypass in iOS and macOS
CVE-2023-38606 is an Apple kernel vulnerability fixed in macOS Monterey 12.6.8, macOS Big Sur 11.7.9, macOS Ventura 13.5, iOS 15.7.8, iPadOS 15.7.8, iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, tvOS 16.6, and watchOS 9.6. Apple’s advisory states that an app may be able to modify sensitive kernel state and that the issue was addressed with improved state management. Public reporting and exploit-chain analyses associate this flaw with kernel post-exploitation on iOS, including use as a Page Protection Layer (PPL) bypass component in exploit frameworks such as Operation Triangulation and later Coruna. Supporting reporting also characterizes the bug as enabling arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges in some exploit contexts, but Apple’s published description is limited to modification of sensitive kernel state.
Are you exposed to this one?
Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.
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.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
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.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
34 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
An iOS kernel privilege escalation vulnerability used in Coruna Stage 3 to obtain root and deploy the PLASMAGRID implant.
A patched iOS vulnerability used as a zero-day in Operation Triangulation and later incorporated into the Coruna exploit kit.
An Apple iOS vulnerability used as a zero-day in Operation Triangulation and later included in the Coruna iOS exploit kit.
A previously patched iOS kernel vulnerability included in the Coruna exploit kit and previously used as a zero-day in Operation Triangulation.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.