CVE-2001-1446
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedFind-By-Content in Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.0.4 creates world-readable index files named .FBCIndex in every directory, which allows remote attackers to learn the contents of files in web accessible directories.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Find-By-Content feature in Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.0.4 creates hidden index files named '.FBCIndex' in every directory it indexes. These files are stored with world-readable permissions, allowing remote attackers who can access web directories to download these index files and discover what files exist on the system and potentially learn their contents.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers' or check System Preferences > About to identify the exact Mac OS X version numberAffected if The version is 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, or 10.0.4
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Locate .FBCIndex filesSearch the filesystem for files named '.FBCIndex' using: find / -name '.FBCIndex' 2>/dev/nullAffected if Any .FBCIndex files are found on the system
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Verify file permissions on .FBCIndexRun 'ls -la' on any .FBCIndex directories found to inspect the permission bits (look for 'r--r--r--' or similar world-readable settings)Affected if The .FBCIndex files are readable by all users (world-readable)
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Check web server document rootIf a web server is running, inspect the web root directories (typically /Library/WebServer/Documents or ~/Sites) for the presence of .FBCIndex filesAffected if Web-accessible directories contain .FBCIndex files
A user is affected if they run Mac OS X 10.0.x and have .FBCIndex files present in web-accessible directories with world-readable permissions.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataRemove all .FBCIndex files from the system and configure web servers to deny access to hidden files (files beginning with '.'). If the Find-By-Content feature is not needed, disable it to prevent future index creation.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2001-1446 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2001-1446 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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