The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) database was created to give security teams a single, standardized list of publicly known security vulnerabilities. Each CVE entry assigns an ID and description to a vulnerability, whether it’s a buffer overflow in a library, a weak encryption protocol, or an SDK leaking data.
The idea is simple:
That’s the foundation CVEs were meant to provide.
The limitation is equally clear. A CVE entry does not confirm whether a specific application or SDK is actually exploitable.
The CVE database describes what exists globally, but it does not prove whether a vulnerability can impact a specific mobile app or SDK.
The number of CVEs published each year has been rising steadily for the past decade, according to CVE.org. In 2024, there were over 40,009 new CVEs, marking a 38% increase over the previous year. That’s more than 100 new CVEs per day on average.
That volume drowns teams in noise, making it harder to identify what truly matters, especially in mobile app development:
Not every CVE in the database applies directly to mobile devices or applications. Many cover servers, enterprise infrastructure, web frameworks, or even IoT devices. However, the fraction that does apply to mobile is more than enough to create a serious problem.
These vulnerabilities often target SDKs, third-party libraries, or mobile OS systems that sit deep in the app stack. Just one of these issues can expose sensitive data, leak credentials, or compromise use privacy at scale.
Here are real-world CVEs where mobile applications were directly linked to data exposure:
These are real-world examples of mobile application CVEs and highlight the problem with testing mobile apps before they ship. Teams are constantly forced to balance speed with security, and without scalable solutions that deliver accuracy, vulnerabilities slip into production.
Catching vulnerabilities before release requires more than a static report. Mobile security testing has to scale with the same speed as development, or flaws slip into production. Relying on outdated or piecemeal approaches slows teams down and leaves blind spots.
The baseline should include:
Mobile app testing is particularly critical to reduce the risk of data leakage or data compromise in industries with sensitive data and significant penalties, such as health care and financial services. The irony is that as iOS becomes more secure and new versions ship faster, it becomes harder for development teams to build and test applications securely.
Corellium Viper with MATRIX closes this gap by transforming CVEs from static database entries into live, testable scenarios.
Viper lets teams spin up virtual iOS devices in either a stock or jailbroken state, across any OS version, instantly. This removes the dependency on rare public jailbreaks or physical test devices and provides the flexibility to test apps under both normal and jailbroken conditions.
It also makes it possible to bypass jailbreak detection, a feature increasingly built into sensitive apps like banking, payments, and healthcare.
As Corellium research has shown, many apps assume they are secure simply because they block jailbroken devices. In practice, this leads to a false sense of security and prevents researchers from testing how apps behave under real attack conditions.
Combined with automated security assessments and real-time reporting, teams can validate vulnerabilities and confirm fixes with speed and confidence.
Security researchers, pentesters, and mobile developers can:
Instead of generic compliance outputs, MATRIX delivers actionable results that show which vulnerabilities matter, how they can be exploited, and how to validate fixes at scale.
For commercial teams, this approach validates vulnerabilities before applications make it to production. For research and mission-focused teams, it provides the ability to reproduce and analyze CVEs without waiting for jailbreaks or relying on limited physical devices.
The real value is not in knowing that thousands of CVEs exist. The value is in proving which ones can actually be exploited in the mobile applications and SDKs that matter.
The CVE database is an essential resource, but it does not solve the problem of exploitability. Without testing, CVEs remain theoretical risks.
Viper + MATRIX close that gap. They provide the ability to map CVEs directly against mobile applications and SDKs, reproduce exploits in controlled environments, validate patches, and generate results that guide both remediation and research.
CVE awareness is no longer enough. CVE validation is the standard teams need to reach, and Viper + MATRIX deliver it.
And for teams balancing regulatory pressure, MATRIX also automates many of the common OWASP checks, along with compliance-focused tests for HIPAA and PCI, ensuring that while you focus on real exploitability, the boxes are checked for auditors as well.
Ready to learn more? Request a free trial of Viper with MATRIX today.