CVE-2013-0984
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 · uneditedDirectory Service in Apple Mac OS X through 10.6.8 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (daemon crash) 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 · low confidenceDirectory Service in Apple Mac OS X through 10.6.8 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to send a crafted message leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service via daemon crash. The CVSS 9.3 indicates a critical buffer overflow or injection flaw in the network-facing Directory Service daemon.
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<= 10.6.8= 10.0.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4= 10.1.0= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3= 10.1.4= 10.1.5<= 10.6.8= 10.0= 10.0.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.0.4= 10.1= 10.1.0= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3CVSS 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
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or view About This MacAffected if Version is 10.6.8 or lower, or matches any of these specific versions: 10.0.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, 10.0.4, 10.1.0, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.1.4, 10.1.5 (for Mac OS X); or 10.0, 10.0.0-10.0.4, 10.1, 10.1.0-10.1.3 (for Mac OS X Server)
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Verify Directory Service daemon is runningRun 'ps aux | grep -i directoryd' or 'sudo launchctl list | grep -i com.apple DirectoryServices'Affected if The DirectoryService daemon (directoryd) is actively running on the system
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Check if Directory Service is network-exposedRun 'sudo lsof -i -P | grep 625' or 'sudo netstat -an | grep 625' to check if port 625 (default Directory Service port) is listeningAffected if Directory Service is bound to a network interface and accepting connections on port 625 or other ports
Your environment is affected if you are running Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server version 10.6.8 or earlier AND the Directory Service daemon is running and exposed on the network.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade from Mac OS X 10.6.8 to a supported version, or if upgrade is not feasible, disable or restrict access to Directory Service and implement network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted networks.
Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or later; for Server, upgrade to Mac OS X Server 10.7 or later. Apple released Security Update 2013-001 for 10.6.8 as the immediate patch.
- Identify the current Mac OS X version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
- Back up all important data using Time Machine or another backup solution
- Download and install the latest available Mac OS X upgrade from the Apple App Store or support.apple.com
- After upgrading, verify the Directory Service is running by opening Terminal and running: sudo serveradmin start directory
- Confirm the fix by checking Apple menu > About This Mac shows a version newer than 10.6.8
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-0984 — 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-2013-0984 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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- 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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