What is CVE-2009-1699?

CVE-2009-1699 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Iphone OS, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2009-06-10.

How severe is CVE-2009-1699?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2009-1699 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

XXE in Apple Iphone OS

CVE-2009-1699

The XSL stylesheet implementation in WebKit in Apple Safari before 4.0, iPhone OS 1.0 through 2.2.1, and iPhone OS for iPod touch 1.1 through 2.2.1 does not properly handle XML external entities, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted DTD, as demonstrated by a file:///etc/passwd URL in an entity declaration, related to an "XXE attack."

Vulnerability class: XXE (XML External Entity)

Published 2009-06-10 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.291 (98.1th percentile), scored 2026-10-02.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 98th percentile — 98.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.291 · newest: 0.291 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apple Iphone OS
Apple Safari
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 8.10, 9.04
openSUSE — versions 11.2, 11.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-611 — Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

ARPSyndicate/cve-scores

References

support.apple.com/kb/HT3639 (Vendor Advisory)
secunia.com/advisories/43068 (Broken Link, third-party-advisory)
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1621 (vdb-entry, Broken Link)
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/8907 (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, exploit)
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2011/0212 (vdb-entry, Broken Link)
scary.beasts.org/security/CESA-2009-006.html (Exploit)
lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/jun/msg00002.html (vendor-advisory, Patch, Mailing List, Broken Link, Vendor Advisory)
osvdb.org/54972 (vdb-entry, Broken Link)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/35260 (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry, Broken Link)
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1522 (Patch, vdb-entry, Broken Link, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2009-1699?: CVE-2009-1699 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Iphone OS, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2009-06-10.
How severe is CVE-2009-1699?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2009-1699 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.