CVE-2014-4402
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 · uneditedAn unspecified IOAcceleratorFamily function in Apple OS X before 10.9.5 lacks proper bounds checking on read operations, which allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context via a crafted application.
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 confidenceA bounds checking vulnerability in the IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension in Apple OS X before 10.9.5 allows a malicious application to execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges due to insufficient bounds checking on read operations, enabling local privilege escalation.
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= 10.9= 10.9.1= 10.9.2= 10.9.3= 10.9.4CVSS 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
- 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 the installed OS X versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or System Information > About This MacAffected if The version is 10.9, 10.9.1, 10.9.2, 10.9.3, or 10.9.4
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Verify the IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension is presentRun 'ls -la /System/Library/Extensions/IOAcceleratorFamily.kext' in TerminalAffected if The IOAcceleratorFamily.kext file exists on the system (the vulnerable component is present)
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Confirm the kernel extension is loadedRun 'kextstat | grep -i IOAccelerator' in TerminalAffected if The IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension appears in the loaded kernel extensions list
The system is affected if it runs OS X 10.9 through 10.9.4 and has the IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension loaded, as the bounds checking vulnerability can be exploited by a local malicious application to execute code at kernel level.
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 · scopedApply Apple security update OS X 10.9.5 or later to patch the IOAcceleratorFamily kernel extension vulnerability; until patched, restrict execution of untrusted applications and monitor for indicators of compromise.
OS X 10.9.5 or migrate to a supported macOS version (10.15+)
- Back up all important data before performing any system update
- Upgrade from OS X 10.9.x to OS X 10.9.5 or later (preferably to a newer supported macOS version such as 10.15 or later)
- Restart the system after the update completes
- Verify the system is running the patched version via Apple menu > About This Mac
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-4402 — 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-2014-4402 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data