dbcve.org
Mac Os X ServerOperating system · Apple

CVE-2005-4217

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-12-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Perl in Apple Mac OS X Server 10.3.9 does not properly drop privileges when using the "$<" variable to set uid, which allows attackers to gain privileges.

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

Perl in Mac OS X Server 10.3.9 fails to properly drop privileges when the '$<' variable (real UID) is used to set the UID, allowing attackers to gain elevated privileges through improper privilege handling in setuid Perl scripts.

MitigationApply Apple's security update for this vulnerability, or upgrade from the unsupported Mac OS X Server 10.3.9 to a supported OS version.

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 X ServerOperating system
Affected:= 10.3.9

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm Mac OS X Server version is 10.3.9
    Run 'sw_vers' or 'uname -a' and check if the version reports exactly 10.3.9
    Affected if Version is not 10.3.9, the system is not affected by this specific CVE
  2. Check if Perl is installed
    Run 'perl -v' or check for /usr/bin/perl
    Affected if Perl is not installed, the vulnerability does not apply
  3. Identify setuid Perl scripts on the system
    Run 'find / -perm -4000 -name "*.pl" -o -perm -4000 -type f -exec file {} \;' 2>/dev/null to find setuid scripts with .pl extension
    Affected if No setuid Perl scripts exist, the vulnerability cannot be exploited
  4. Inspect setuid Perl scripts for unsafe UID handling
    Examine each setuid Perl script and look for usage of '$<' (real UID) in UID-setting operations rather than '$>' (effective UID)
    Affected if Setuid Perl scripts use '$<' to set UID, the system is vulnerable to privilege escalation

A system is affected only if it is Mac OS X Server 10.3.9, has Perl installed, and contains setuid Perl scripts that improperly use '$<' for UID manipulation.

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's security update for this vulnerability, or upgrade from the unsupported Mac OS X Server 10.3.9 to a supported OS version.

Fix this in Mac Os X Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2005-4217 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
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