CVE-2006-4409
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 Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) service in the Security Framework in Apple Mac OS X 10.4 through 10.4.8 retrieve certificate revocation lists (CRL) when an HTTP proxy is in use, which could cause the system to accept certificates that have been revoked.
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 OCSP service in Mac OS X 10.4 Security Framework incorrectly retrieves Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL) when an HTTP proxy is configured, bypassing proper OCSP validation. This allows the system to accept certificates that should have been revoked, as CRLs may be cached or stale while OCSP provides real-time revocation status.
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= 10.4= 10.4.1= 10.4.2= 10.4.3= 10.4.4= 10.4.5= 10.4.6= 10.4.7= 10.4.8CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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.
-
Check Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers' or select 'About This Mac' from the Apple menu to view the system versionAffected if The version shows 10.4.x (any version from 10.4 through 10.4.8)
-
Verify HTTP proxy configurationOpen System Preferences > Network > Proxies, or run 'networksetup -getwebproxy' or 'networksetup -getproxy' in TerminalAffected if Any HTTP proxy is enabled (Web Proxy or Secure Web Proxy)
-
Check if OCSP validation is in useRun 'security cert validate -v' on a test certificate, or inspect '/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.revocation' plist if it existsAffected if OCSP is enabled for certificate revocation checking (the default behavior on 10.4)
-
Confirm CRL retrieval bypasses OCSPMonitor network traffic or check system logs when validating a certificate, looking for CRL downloads instead of OCSP requests to the CAAffected if With an HTTP proxy enabled, the system fetches CRLs instead of performing real-time OCSP queries
You are affected if you are running any Mac OS X 10.4.x version (10.4 through 10.4.8) and have an HTTP proxy configured, causing OCSP validation to be bypassed in favor of potentially stale CRLs
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 dataThis vulnerability affects end-of-life Mac OS X 10.4.x which is no longer supported; upgrade to a currently supported macOS version. As a compensating control, ensure no HTTP proxy is used for certificate validation paths.
- Consultation2.0 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-2006-4409 — 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-2006-4409 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