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Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2014-1356

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-07-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Heap-based buffer overflow in launchd in Apple iOS before 7.1.2, Apple OS X before 10.9.4, and Apple TV before 6.1.2 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted application that sends IPC messages.

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

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in launchd, the system initialization and service management daemon for Apple iOS, OS X, and Apple TV. Attackers can exploit this by crafting a malicious application that sends specially crafted IPC (Inter-Process Communication) messages to launchd, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches: update iOS to 7.1.2 or later, OS X to 10.9.4 or later, and Apple TV to 6.1.2 or later. Prioritize updating all affected devices given the critical CVSS 10 severity.

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:= 10.9= 10.9.1= 10.9.2= 10.9.3
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:<= 7.1.1= 7.0= 7.0.1= 7.0.2= 7.0.3= 7.0.4= 7.0.5= 7.0.6= 7.1
TvosOperating system
Affected:<= 6.1.1= 6.0= 6.0.1= 6.0.2= 6.1

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Check macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' or go to Apple menu > About This Mac to see the exact OS version
    Affected if The version is 10.9, 10.9.1, 10.9.2, or 10.9.3 (not 10.9.4 or later)
  2. Check iOS version
    Go to Settings > General > About on the iOS device to view the version
    Affected if The version is 7.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.3, 7.0.4, 7.0.5, 7.0.6, 7.1, or 7.1.1 (not 7.1.2 or later)
  3. Check Apple TV version
    Go to Settings > General > About > Version on Apple TV
    Affected if The version is 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.1, or 6.1.1 (not 6.1.2 or later)
  4. Verify launchd is present
    Run 'ls -la /sbin/launchd' or check the process list with 'ps -ef | grep launchd'
    Affected if The launchd daemon exists and is running (which is the case on default installations of the affected OS versions)

The environment is affected if the installed OS version matches any of the vulnerable versions listed: macOS 10.9 through 10.9.3, iOS 7.0 through 7.1.1, or Apple TV 6.0 through 6.1.1.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.1.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches: update iOS to 7.1.2 or later, OS X to 10.9.4 or later, and Apple TV to 6.1.2 or later. Prioritize updating all affected devices given the critical CVSS 10 severity.

Recommended fix High confidence

iOS 7.1.2, OS X 10.9.4, or tvOS 6.1.2 depending on device

  1. For iOS devices: Connect the device to power and Wi-Fi, then go to Settings > General > Software Update to install iOS 7.1.2
  2. For iOS devices alternatively: Connect to iTunes and check for updates to install iOS 7.1.2
  3. For Mac OS X: Open the App Store, go to Updates, and install the OS X 10.9.4 update
  4. For Mac OS X alternatively: Go to Apple menu > Software Update to install OS X 10.9.4
  5. For Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Update Software to install tvOS 6.1.2
  6. For Apple TV alternatively: Connect the Apple TV to iTunes on a computer and check for updates to install tvOS 6.1.2
Caveat Standard minor OS updates typically have minimal breaking changes; iOS 7.1.2 includes new features and fixes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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
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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-2014-1356 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data