dbcve.org
Mac Os XOperating system · Apple

CVE-2014-8831

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-01-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.10.1 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
security_taskgate in Apple OS X before 10.10.2 allows attackers to read group-ACL-restricted keychain items of arbitrary apps via a crafted app with a signature from a (1) self-signed certificate or (2) Developer ID certificate.

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 confidence

The security_taskgate component in Apple OS X before 10.10.2 contained a flaw that allowed applications signed with self-signed or Developer ID certificates to bypass group-ACL restrictions on keychain items, enabling unauthorized reading of keychain data belonging to arbitrary applications.

MitigationApply the OS X 10.10.2 security update or later, which addresses the security_taskgate bypass vulnerability.

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:<= 10.10.1

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
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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 installed OS X version
    Open Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersion
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.10.1 or earlier (for example, 10.10.0, 10.9.x, etc.)
  2. Verify the security_taskgate component
    Check for the presence of the security_taskgate component in the system by examining /usr/libexec/security_taskgate or related paths using: ls -la /usr/libexec/security_taskgate
    Affected if The security_taskgate component exists on the system (this is present by default in vulnerable versions)
  3. Confirm group-ACL keychain access behavior
    Review keychain access controls: Open Keychain Access, right-click any keychain item, check the 'Access Control' tab for group-based ACLs, and note if applications with Developer ID or self-signed certificates could potentially access these items
    Affected if Keychain items have group-ACL restrictions configured and the system runs an OS X version <= 10.10.1

If the system runs OS X 10.10.1 or earlier, the security_taskgate bypass vulnerability is present and could allow applications signed with self-signed or Developer ID certificates to read keychain items belonging to other applications.

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 10.10.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the OS X 10.10.2 security update or later, which addresses the security_taskgate bypass vulnerability.

Fix this in Mac Os X Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2014-8831 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