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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2012-0651

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-05-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The directory server in Directory Service in Apple Mac OS X 10.6.8 allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory via a crafted message.

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

The Directory Service in Apple Mac OS X 10.6.8 contains a memory disclosure vulnerability where a remote attacker can send a crafted message to the directory server and obtain sensitive information from process memory.

MitigationUpgrade from Mac OS X 10.6.8 to a supported version; if upgrade is not feasible, restrict network access to the directory service port and monitor for anomalous queries.

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:= 10.6.8
Mac Os X ServerOperating system
Affected:= 10.6.8

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Mac OS X version
    Run 'sw_vers' or select Apple menu > About This Mac to view the OS version number
    Affected if The version displayed is exactly 10.6.8 (not 10.6.7, 10.6.9, or later)
  2. Check if running Mac OS X Server
    Run 'sw_vers' and look for 'Server' in the product name, or check /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist
    Affected if The system is Mac OS X Server version 10.6.8
  3. Verify Directory Service is enabled
    Run 'dscl . -list /' to test if the local Directory Service is responsive, or check for the 'DirectoryService' process running via Activity Monitor
    Affected if Directory Service is running and responsive on the system
  4. Check network exposure of directory service
    Run 'sudo lsof -i :1024' to check if the directory service port (default 1024) is listening on network interfaces, or use 'netstat -an | grep 1024'
    Affected if Port 1024 is bound to 0.0.0.0 or accessible from network interfaces (not bound to 127.0.0.1 only)

You are affected only if the system is running exactly Mac OS X 10.6.8 or Mac OS X Server 10.6.8, the Directory Service is active, and the service port is exposed to network attackers.

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 from Mac OS X 10.6.8 to a supported version; if upgrade is not feasible, restrict network access to the directory service port and monitor for anomalous queries.

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-2012-0651 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
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