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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2005-0716

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-03-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Stack-based buffer overflow in the Core Foundation Library in Mac OS X 10.3.5 and 10.3.6, and possibly earlier versions, allows local users to execute arbitrary code via a long CF_CHARSET_PATH 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 confidence

Stack-based buffer overflow in Core Foundation Library on Mac OS X 10.3.5/10.3.6 allows local privilege escalation via an overly long CF_CHARSET_PATH environment variable, enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply Apple security update for CVE-2005-0716 or upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later to patch the vulnerable Core Foundation Library.

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
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:= 10.3= 10.3.1= 10.3.2= 10.3.3= 10.3.4= 10.3.5= 10.3.6= 10.3.7= 10.3.8
Mac Os X ServerOperating system
Affected:= 10.3= 10.3.1= 10.3.2= 10.3.3= 10.3.4= 10.3.5= 10.3.6

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Mac OS X version
    Run 'sw_vers' or 'uname -a' in Terminal to determine the installed Mac OS X version
    Affected if The version is 10.3.5 or 10.3.6 (or any 10.3.x version within the affected range) and has not been patched
  2. Verify Core Foundation framework presence
    Check for /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework or use 'ls /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework'
    Affected if The Core Foundation framework exists on the system (required for the vulnerability)
  3. Confirm system patch status
    Check if Apple Security Update 2005-004 or later has been applied by reviewing installed updates in System Preferences > Software Update, or check for specific CoreFoundation framework version if known
    Affected if The system remains unpatched and is running a vulnerable 10.3.x version

A user is affected if the system runs Mac OS X 10.3.5 or 10.3.6 (or any unpatched 10.3.x version) with the Core Foundation framework present.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Apple security update for CVE-2005-0716 or upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later to patch the vulnerable Core Foundation Library.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-0716 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data