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Iphone OsOperating system · Apple

CVE-2015-1117

MEDIUM · 6.9 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.10.2 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
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 (1) setreuid and (2) setregid system-call implementations in the kernel in Apple iOS before 8.3, Apple OS X before 10.10.3, and Apple TV before 7.2 do not properly perform privilege drops, which makes it easier for attackers to execute code with unintended user or group privileges 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 confidence

This is a kernel-level vulnerability in Apple iOS, OS X, and Apple TV where the setreuid and setregid system calls fail to properly perform privilege drops. This allows a malicious application to execute code with unintended user or group privileges by exploiting these flawed system call implementations.

MitigationApply the vendor patches: update iOS to version 8.3 or later, OS X to version 10.10.3 or later, and Apple TV to version 7.2 or later.

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
Iphone OsOperating system
Affected:<= 8.2
TvosOperating system
Affected:<= 7.1
Mac Os XOperating system
Affected:<= 10.10.2

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
Local
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the Apple device type
    Determine whether the device is an iPhone/iPad running iOS, a Mac computer running OS X, or an Apple TV
    Affected if Device is an Apple product running iOS, OS X, or Apple TV
  2. Check iOS version on iPhone or iPad
    Go to Settings > General > About and read the Version field
    Affected if Version displays 8.2 or lower (for example, 8.0, 7.1.2, etc.)
  3. Check OS X version on Mac
    Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and select About This Mac; note the version number shown
    Affected if Version displays 10.10.2 or lower (for example, 10.10.1, 10.10.0, etc.)
  4. Check Apple TV version
    Go to Settings > General > About and read the Version field
    Affected if Version displays 7.1 or lower (for example, 7.0, 6.0.2, etc.)

A device is affected if it is running iOS 8.2 or earlier, OS X 10.10.2 or earlier, or Apple TV 7.1 or earlier, as these versions contain the flawed setreuid and setregid system call implementations.

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 10.10.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patches: update iOS to version 8.3 or later, OS X to version 10.10.3 or later, and Apple TV to version 7.2 or later.

Fix this in Iphone Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2015-1117 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