dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2013-5184

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-10-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.8.5 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 kernel in Apple Mac OS X before 10.9 does not properly check for errors during the processing of multicast Wi-Fi packets, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (system crash) by leveraging presence in an 802.11 network's coverage area.

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

The Mac OS X kernel fails to properly validate error conditions when processing multicast 802.11 Wi-Fi packets. An attacker within wireless network range can send specially crafted multicast packets to trigger a kernel panic and system crash, as the kernel does not handle malformed packet errors gracefully.

MitigationUpgrade to Mac OS X 10.9 or later, which contains the proper error handling for multicast Wi-Fi packet processing. As an interim network-level control, restrict wireless network access to trusted devices only.

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:<= 10.8.5= 10.8.0= 10.8.1= 10.8.2= 10.8.3= 10.8.4= 10.8.5

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
Adjacent
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check the installed Mac OS X version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal to get the exact version number
    Affected if The version shows 10.8.0 through 10.8.5 (any 10.8.x version)
  2. Confirm Wi-Fi (AirPort) is enabled
    Run 'networksetup -getairportpower en0' in Terminal, or check System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi to see if Wi-Fi is turned on
    Affected if Wi-Fi is enabled and the wireless interface is active
  3. Verify a wireless network interface exists
    Run 'ifconfig | grep -i airport' or 'networksetup -listallhardwareports' to list network interfaces
    Affected if An AirPort or Wi-Fi interface (typically en0 or en1) is present and active

You are affected if the system runs Mac OS X 10.8.x (10.8.0-10.8.5) and has Wi-Fi enabled, as the vulnerability lies in the kernel's handling of malformed multicast 802.11 packets.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.8.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.9 or later, which contains the proper error handling for multicast Wi-Fi packet processing. As an interim network-level control, restrict wireless network access to trusted devices only.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-5184 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2013-5184 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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