dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2010-1821

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Apple Mac OS X 10.6 through 10.6.3 and Mac OS X Server 10.6 through 10.6.3 allows local users to obtain system 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 · moderate confidence

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Apple Mac OS X 10.6 through 10.6.3 and Mac OS X Server 10.6 through 10.6.3 allows an authenticated local user to elevate privileges to root/system level.

MitigationUpgrade to a supported version of macOS (10.6.4 or later, though modern supported versions are strongly recommended).

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:= 10.6.0= 10.6.1= 10.6.2= 10.6.3
Mac Os X ServerOperating system
Affected:= 10.6.0= 10.6.1= 10.6.2= 10.6.3

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
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 the installed macOS version
    Run `sw_vers -productVersion` in Terminal to retrieve the exact macOS version number
    Affected if The version shown is 10.6.0, 10.6.1, 10.6.2, or 10.6.3
  2. Confirm the OS variant is affected
    Run `sw_vers -productName` to verify the system is either 'Mac OS X' or 'Mac OS X Server'
    Affected if The product is Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server and the version from step 1 is 10.6.x where x is 0-3
  3. Verify local user authentication is present
    Check for local user accounts by running `dscl . -list /Users` in Terminal. Exclude system accounts (nobody, daemon, nobody, etc.)
    Affected if The system has at least one non-system local user account configured (the vulnerability requires an authenticated local user to exploit)

A system is affected if it runs Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server versions 10.6.0 through 10.6.3 and has local user accounts enabled, allowing a local authenticated user to potentially escalate privileges to root.

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

Upgrade to a supported version of macOS (10.6.4 or later, though modern supported versions are strongly recommended).

Fix this in Mac Os X 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-2010-1821 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