CVE-2003-0198
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 · uneditedMac OS X before 10.2.5 allows guest users to modify the permissions of the DropBox folder and read unauthorized files.
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 confidenceMac OS X versions before 10.2.5 contained a flaw in the default DropBox sharing configuration that allowed unauthenticated guest users to modify permissions on the shared DropBox folder, enabling them to bypass intended access controls and read files they were not authorized to access.
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= 10.0.4= 10.1= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3= 10.1.4= 10.1.5= 10.2.1= 10.0= 10.2= 10.2.1= 10.2.2= 10.2.3= 10.2.4CVSS 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
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
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 the installed Mac OS X versionOpen System Profiler (or About This Mac) to view the exact OS version numberAffected if The version is any of: 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, 10.0.4, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.1.4, 10.1.5, 10.2.1, 10.2.2, 10.2.3, 10.2.4, or any Mac OS X Server version 10.0 through 10.2.4
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Verify if File Sharing is enabledOpen System Preferences, go to Sharing, and check if File Sharing (or Windows Sharing on Server) is turned onAffected if File Sharing is enabled with a shared folder named DropBox or any shared folder accessible to guests
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Confirm guest access configurationIn Sharing preferences, examine the user access settings for shared folders and verify if 'Guest' or 'Everyone' has access permissionsAffected if Guest users are permitted to connect to shared folders via the sharing service
You are affected if you run any affected Mac OS X version listed above AND have File Sharing enabled with guest access to a DropBox or shared folder.
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 dataUpgrade to Mac OS X 10.2.5 or later, or disable guest account access to shared folders in the sharing preferences.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0198 — 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-2003-0198 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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