What is CVE-2019-8789?

CVE-2019-8789 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple iOS, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2019-12-18.

How severe is CVE-2019-8789?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Apple iOS

CVE-2019-8789

A validation issue existed in the handling of symlinks. This issue was addressed with improved validation of symlinks. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2, macOS Catalina 10.15.1. Parsing a maliciously crafted iBooks file may lead to disclosure of user information.

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

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.013 (69.5th percentile), scored 2026-10-01.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 69th percentile — 69.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.013 · newest: 0.013 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apple iOS — versions unspecified
Apple Ipados
Apple Iphone OS
Apple macOS — versions unspecified
Apple Mac OS X

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-59 — Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

support.apple.com/HT210721 (Vendor Advisory)
support.apple.com/HT210722 (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-8789?: CVE-2019-8789 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple iOS, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2019-12-18.
How severe is CVE-2019-8789?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.