What is CVE-2019-8553?

CVE-2019-8553 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple iOS, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2019-12-18.

How severe is CVE-2019-8553?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Buffer overflow in Apple iOS

CVE-2019-8553

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in iOS 12.2, tvOS 12.2, watchOS 5.2. Clicking a malicious SMS link may lead to arbitrary code execution.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2019-12-18 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.018 (78.1th percentile), scored 2026-10-02.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 78th percentile — 78.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.018 · newest: 0.018 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apple iOS — versions unspecified
Apple Iphone OS
Apple tvOS — versions unspecified
Apple watchOS — versions unspecified

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-787 — Out-of-bounds Write

References

support.apple.com/HT209599 (Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/HT209601 (Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/HT209602 (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-8553?: CVE-2019-8553 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple iOS, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2019-12-18.
How severe is CVE-2019-8553?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.