CVE-2006-4407
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 · uneditedThe Security Framework in Apple Mac OS X 10.3.x up to 10.3.9 does not properly prioritize encryption ciphers when negotiating the strongest shared cipher, which causes Secure Transport to user a weaker cipher that makes it easier for remote attackers to decrypt traffic.
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 Security Framework in Apple Mac OS X 10.3.x through 10.3.9 contains a cipher prioritization flaw in Secure Transport. During SSL/TLS handshake negotiation, the framework fails to properly prioritize the strongest available shared cipher, instead falling back to weaker ciphers that are more susceptible to cryptographic attacks, potentially allowing remote attackers to decrypt intercepted traffic.
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= 10.3= 10.3.1= 10.3.2= 10.3.3= 10.3.4= 10.3.5= 10.3.6= 10.3.7= 10.3.8CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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.
-
Identify Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers' in Terminal or check System Profiler to confirm the exact OS versionAffected if Version is 10.3.x (10.3, 10.3.1, 10.3.2, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.5, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, or 10.3.8)
-
Verify SSL/TLS usageCheck if any services using Secure Transport are active, such as Safari browsing, Mail with SSL/TLS, or any application performing HTTPS connectionsAffected if SSL/TLS connections are being made on the affected OS version
-
Review cipher configurationInspect SSL/TLS configuration files or application settings for cipher suite preferences; on Mac OS X 10.3, this may require checking individual application preferences or system-wide SSL settingsAffected if Weak or medium-strength cipher suites are enabled and selectable during negotiation
You are affected if the system runs Mac OS X 10.3.x and uses SSL/TLS connections, as the Secure Transport framework in these versions contains the cipher prioritization flaw regardless of configuration.
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 from Mac OS X 10.3.x to a supported macOS version; if systems cannot be upgraded immediately, disable weak cipher suites in SSL/TLS configurations and enforce TLS 1.1+ where possible.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-4407 — 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-2006-4407 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data