CVE-2014-4497
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 · uneditedInteger signedness error in IOBluetoothFamily in the Bluetooth implementation in Apple OS X before 10.10 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context or cause a denial of service (write to kernel memory) via a crafted app.
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 confidenceInteger signedness error in IOBluetoothFamily kernel extension in Apple OS X before 10.10 allows a malicious application to write to arbitrary kernel memory locations, potentially achieving code execution with elevated privileges or causing a kernel panic (denial of service).
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<= 10.9.5CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check the installed OS X versionClick Apple menu > About This Mac. The version number is displayed below the macOS name. Alternatively, run 'sw_vers' in Terminal.Affected if The version displayed is 10.9.5 or earlier (10.9, 10.8, etc.)
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Confirm IOBluetoothFamily kernel extension presenceRun 'kextstat | grep IOBluetoothFamily' in Terminal to verify the IOBluetoothFamily kernel extension is loaded.Affected if The command returns a result showing IOBluetoothFamily is loaded, and the OS version is 10.9.5 or earlier
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Check if Bluetooth is enabledGo to System Preferences > Bluetooth, or run 'blueutil status' in Terminal if installed.Affected if Bluetooth is enabled on a system running OS X 10.9.5 or earlier
If the system runs OS X 10.9.5 or earlier with IOBluetoothFamily loaded, the environment is affected by this integer signedness vulnerability.
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 OS X 10.10 or later security update, which patches the integer signedness vulnerability in the IOBluetoothFamily kernel extension.
Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or later
- Upgrade Mac OS X to version 10.10 (Yosemite) or later to remediate this vulnerability
- If the system cannot be upgraded to 10.10, consider migrating to a supported macOS version that includes the security fix
- After upgrading, verify the IOBluetoothFamily component has been updated
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-2014-4497 — 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-2014-4497 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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