CVE-2004-0822
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 · uneditedBuffer overflow in The Core Foundation framework (CoreFoundation.framework) in Mac OS X 10.2.8, 10.3.4, and 10.3.5 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via a certain environment variable.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in CoreFoundation.framework on Mac OS X 10.2.8, 10.3.4, and 10.3.5 allows local users to execute arbitrary code by setting a specific environment variable. The overflow occurs when processing the environment variable content without proper bounds checking, enabling privilege escalation.
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= 10.2.8= 10.3.4= 10.3.5= 10.2.8= 10.3.4= 10.3.5CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers' or 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' in Terminal to retrieve the installed OS versionAffected if The version displayed is 10.2.8, 10.3.4, or 10.3.5 exactly (these are the affected versions)
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Identify the CoreFoundation.framework versionRun 'ls -la /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/' to list available framework versions, then check the specific version if possibleAffected if The framework version corresponds to one of the affected OS releases (10.2.8, 10.3.4, or 10.3.5)
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Audit environment variables for unusual entriesRun 'env' or 'printenv' in Terminal to list all current environment variables; look for any non-standard or custom variables that could trigger the vulnerabilityAffected if A specific environment variable known to trigger this flaw is set (the exact variable name is not specified in this CVE summary, but any unusually named variables should be investigated)
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Check for processes running with elevated privilegesRun 'ps -axl | grep -v grep' to list running processes, or use 'sudo -l' to see elevated privilege contextsAffected if Any untrusted local user process is running with elevated privileges, which could indicate successful exploitation
You are affected if your Mac OS X version is exactly 10.2.8, 10.3.4, or 10.3.5 and a vulnerable configuration of the specific environment variable exists in your environment.
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 a supported Mac OS X version receiving security updates, as these legacy versions (10.2.8, 10.3.x) are no longer supported by Apple. If upgrade is not feasible, restrict local user access and audit for suspicious environment variable configurations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-0822 — 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-2004-0822 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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