CVE-2013-5163
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 Services in Apple Mac OS X before 10.8.5 Supplemental Update allows local users to bypass password-based authentication and modify arbitrary Directory Services records via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceDirectory Services in Mac OS X before 10.8.5 Supplemental Update contains an authentication bypass flaw allowing local users to circumvent password-based authentication and modify arbitrary Directory Services records. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation in the authentication path, though the specific attack vector is not detailed in available documentation.
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<= 10.8.5= 10.8.0= 10.8.1= 10.8.2= 10.8.3= 10.8.4CVSS 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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.
-
Check Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to obtain the installed OS versionAffected if Version is 10.8.0, 10.8.1, 10.8.2, 10.8.3, or 10.8.4 (versions below 10.8.5)
-
Verify Directory Services is activeRun 'launchctl list | grep -i directory' to check if the DirectoryService daemon is runningAffected if DirectoryService daemon is running (indicating Directory Services is enabled)
-
Check Directory Services configurationRun 'dscl localhost -list .' to verify Directory Services node configuration is presentAffected if Directory Services nodes are configured and accessible
The environment is affected if Mac OS X version is 10.8.0 through 10.8.4 AND Directory Services is enabled and configured on the system.
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 the Mac OS X 10.8.5 Supplemental Update to patch the Directory Services authentication bypass. In enterprise environments, test the update in a staging environment first to ensure Directory Services integration remains functional.
- 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-2013-5163 — 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-2013-5163 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