CVE-2011-3437
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 · uneditedInteger signedness error in Apple Type Services (ATS) in Apple Mac OS X 10.7 before 10.7.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted embedded Type 1 font in a document.
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 confidenceInteger signedness error in Apple Type Services (ATS) allows remote code execution when processing a crafted embedded Type 1 font in a document. The vulnerability stems from incorrect handling of integer values during font parsing, potentially allowing an attacker to overflow and execute arbitrary code.
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= 10.7.0= 10.7.1= 10.7.0= 10.7.1CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Mac OS X version numberRun 'sw_vers' in Terminal or use System Profiler to determine the exact OS versionAffected if Version displayed is 10.7.0 or 10.7.1
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Verify Apple Type Services framework is installedCheck for the presence of /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/ATS.framework or use 'ls' to list the ATS framework directoryAffected if The ATS.framework directory exists on the system
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Confirm ATS font processing is enabledRun 'atsutil fonts -v' to list installed font collections, or check that the fontd daemon is running with 'ps -ax | grep fontd'Affected if Font collections are accessible or fontd process is active
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Identify if documents with embedded fonts are processedReview system activity or document workflows where users open documents (PDF, Word, etc.) that may contain embedded Type 1 fonts; check /Library/Fonts and ~/Library/Fonts directories for custom fontsAffected if Users regularly open documents from external sources containing embedded fonts
System is affected if running Mac OS X 10.7.0 or 10.7.1 and Apple Type Services is active to process embedded Type 1 fonts in documents.
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 dataApply Apple security update 10.7.2 which patches the integer signedness vulnerability in ATS. Avoid opening documents from untrusted sources that may contain embedded fonts.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3437 — 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-2011-3437 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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